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Editorial: Is that doctor’s appointment necessary?

Doctor Crisis: While major improvements are needed in the delivery and availability of health-care services in B.C. and elsewhere across the country, major changes are also needed on the demand side of the universal health-care equation in Canada.
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A major factor in health-care economics resides outside doctors’ offices and hospital waiting rooms.

It is in the homes of current and future patients.

And while major improvements are needed in the delivery and availability of health-care services in B.C. and elsewhere across the country, major changes are also needed on the demand side of the universal health-care equation in Canada.

Prevention of poor health, after all, begins with individuals. Diet, exercise, education and a commitment to cleaner living are all fundamental factors in maintaining personal health. They are not the responsibility of government.

Responsibility for underwriting the system is another major issue.

Because patients in Canada are fully covered for insured health-care services, they do not have a direct financial stake in that payment.

That is not good for the financial well-being of the system or the demands that are placed on it.

As part of its series on health-care reforms, the Fraser Institute points out in a recent report that Canada’s universal health-care system, despite being one of the world’s most expensive, performs poorly when compared with its counterparts in other countries.

Understanding Universal Health Care Reform Options also notes that 22 of 28 universal health-care systems around the world “expect patients to share in either the cost of outpatient primary care, outpatient specialist care or acute inpatient care via deductibles, co-insurance charges and co-payments.”

With no significant customer skin in the game in this country, Canada’s system is burdened with demand for unnecessary medical services.

Shared costs logically result in a shared responsibility for how system costs are allocated and reduce the number of frivolous demands placed on it.

Couple that fiscal responsibility with attention to personal fitness and a significant weight would be lifted from the shoulders of Canada’s health-care system, and patients most in need of medical services would reap the benefits of increased system efficiency.