Last week, while my oral surgeon was doing unthinkable things to my mouth, he mentioned that he was having a MRI the next day for a neck problem.  Knowing that he was an ‘insider’ to the profession I asked him how long he had been on a waiting list.  “Oh, just a couple of days”, he said.  I was about to launch into a tirade about those of us on the outside having to wait when he mentioned that his wait for the Moncton machine (shortest waiting list) was four months, but as he could afford it he opted to go to the private clinic in Halifax.  Cost $375 I believe.

I had a similar experience when my son needed a MRI.  Four to six month wait so I called Quebec and the wait was less than a week and cost was either $375 or $575 depending on the nature of the diagnosis we required.  When I called our Doc in St. John to tell him we were going to Quebec, he got us in to St. John Regional for a MRI in 6 days.

Most of us who work for others have some sort of health plan.  Private health plans do not cover the cost of going to a private clinic so if we avail ourselves of this service we have to reach deep into our own purse.  However, much to my surprise, some of the Federal employees (at least in Halifax) can go to the private MRI clinic and it is paid for my their health plan.  It is worth noting that their health coverage is paid for by us - the tax payers of Canada.  We are providing a better plan of cost recovery to our employees than we can obtain ourselves.  This seems unjust.

I am (probably) one of the few who has no fundamental objection to private facilities stepping in and filling a void in the public system.  However, if we are going to keep saying we have an ‘open to all’ system then those private systems somehow have to be brought into the ‘fold’ of a public health care system.