Sunday 27 September 2015

The High Cost of Health Care.

 

"In 2015, the estimated average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $3,789 to $12,055 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family.
For the average Canadian family, between 2005 and 2015, the cost of public health care insurance increased 1.6 times faster than average income, 1.3 times as fast as the cost of shelter, and 2.7 times as fast as food."

- See more at: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/price-public-health-care-insurance-2015-edition#sthash.kIQn37GP.dpuf



In 2015, the estimated average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $3,789 to $12,055 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family.
For the average Canadian family, between 2005 and 2015, the cost of public health care insurance increased 1.6 times faster than average income, 1.3 times as fast as the cost of shelter, and 2.7 times as fast as food.
- See more at: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/price-public-health-care-insurance-2015-edition#sthash.kIQn37GP.dpuf
In 2015, the estimated average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $3,789 to $12,055 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family.
For the average Canadian family, between 2005 and 2015, the cost of public health care insurance increased 1.6 times faster than average income, 1.3 times as fast as the cost of shelter, and 2.7 times as fast as food.
- See more at: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/price-public-health-care-insurance-2015-edition#sthash.kIQn37GP.dpuf

  I have no doubt at all that the high cost of Health Care could consume the entire national budget.  Much  as we love the  concept of everything related to the promotion of health being entirely paid for by the state (taxpayer), commonsense and a little basic math make it clear that this is not and cannot be possible in the long term.  As the population continues to age and people grow older and sicker, requiring more sophisticated and more expensive care, the diminishing  number of young  healthy adults that have always formed the base of the social pyramid that finances the system gets smaller.  The concept of a 'free' health care system is, of course a deliberate political device to fool the populace into thinking the Government is providing them with something for nothing, rather than confiscating their money and dispersing it in  the way that they deem most appropriate.  If you believe that the government can use your money more effectively than you can manage it yourself, then you have the ideal, or almost ideal  system, until the money runs out or the young to middle aged feel over-burdened to the extent that they are prepared to rebel.    If you believe that is the best we can do then you have a responsibility to see that your elected representatives are acting in  your best interests and are accepting the exact same level of care as you do.  (If you think that is the case at present, you are a little naive).   Clearly, they are not doing the best that can be done and unfortunately public reaction  is largely  indifference unless one is unfortunate enough to get caught up  in the morass that the generally poorly  informed administridiots devise to keep the system limping along until  after the next election.  It frequently seems to limp along sufficiently well for the patient to  get acceptable care, mainly riding on  the backs of the health care workers who still care and work  hard to make the system work.  Unfortunately,even the most dedicated find things are wearing thin when a government that is asking them to work harder and longer hours  than most civil servants can even imagine, is at the same time cutting physicians fee schedule by almost five per cent.  Nurses also are feeling the pinch, while the administridiots award themselves what in many cases are obscene salaries and even bonuses. (Go figure!)   As far as I can tell, restraints seem rarely to effect the administrative layer, who feel they should have salaries at least comparable with the most successful in industry.  That is the reason that the health care system has been transformed into the health care industry.  That attitude is so pervasive that it it is finally infiltrating the infrastructure of the health system, the doctors and nurses.  Physicians are no longer prepared to work around the clock, often on a pro bono basis, as they once were.  There are many reasons for this but physician burnout is another huge topic for another day.   Suffice it to say, that the idealism that carried generations of physicians through a difficult but rewarding career has withered on the vine.  Medical residents have a union so powerful that it would have been both unimaginable, unacceptable and unprofessional in my student and resident days.   The idealistic, committed medical professionals of yesteryear and beyond are being replaced by a cadre of civil service medical technician.  They will demand and they will get all the benefits of being civil servants and will behave accordingly.  All it will cost them is their freedom, their independence and their medical 'souls'
     I am afraid it will cost patients a great deal more, fortunately they will never know how much. 

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