Comments on: Sicko 2: The Destruction of Britain’s Health Service http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/11/sicko-2-the-destruction-of-britains-health-service/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Susan Rosenthal http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/11/sicko-2-the-destruction-of-britains-health-service/#comment-8550 Susan Rosenthal Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:28:44 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/11/sicko-2-the-destruction-of-britains-health-service/#comment-8550 The Canadian medical system has also been handed, piece-by-piece, to private industry under the guise of “health-care reform.” In 1997, the government declared, “Promoting Canadian companies as global health-keepers is the main objective driving the strategies and plans of the government for the medical devices, pharmaceutical and health-services sector.” In a nation that boasts annual billion-dollar budget surpluses, the public medical system has been underfunded to the point of crisis, then denigrated for its inadequacies. The private sector is proclaimed the only possible savior, and opponents are ridiculed as old-fashioned and sentimental. When the market fails to deliver, the public is told to adapt to the new reality. To support this process, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that, “The Canada Health Act does not promise that any Canadian will receive funding for all medically required treatment.” Thousands of hospital nursing jobs have been eliminated at the same time that average hospital stays have been cut, so that fewer nurses care for much sicker patients. Families stagger under the burden of sick, injured and frail relatives who were previously cared for in hospital, rehabilitation and chronic-care facilities. In-home nursing care is scarce or pricey. The closure of hospital out-patient clinics has overburdened family doctors. By 2006, fewer than 10 percent of Ontario GPs were accepting new patients. a 2007 survey found that more than two million adult Canadians could not find a family doctor. In 2005, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that lack of timely access to treatment in Quebec was serious enough that the province could no longer prohibit private funding for medically necessary services. Similar legal challenges are expected in the other provinces, as private medical facilities are pushing for the “right” to service those who can pay to go to the front of the line. Ironically, while Americans long for a Canadian-style medical system, that system is disintegrating under the pressure of market forces. This material is taken from “Sick and Sicker: Two Models of Medical Rationing” http://www.counterpunch.org/rosenthal06272007.html The Canadian medical system has also been handed, piece-by-piece, to private industry under the guise of “health-care reform.”

In 1997, the government declared, “Promoting Canadian companies as global health-keepers is the main objective driving the strategies and plans of the government for the medical devices, pharmaceutical and health-services sector.”

In a nation that boasts annual billion-dollar budget surpluses, the public medical system has been underfunded to the point of crisis, then denigrated for its inadequacies. The private sector is proclaimed the only possible savior, and opponents are ridiculed as old-fashioned and sentimental. When the market fails to deliver, the public is told to adapt to the new reality.

To support this process, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that, “The Canada Health Act does not promise that any Canadian will receive funding for all medically required treatment.”

Thousands of hospital nursing jobs have been eliminated at the same time that average hospital stays have been cut, so that fewer nurses care for much sicker patients.

Families stagger under the burden of sick, injured and frail relatives who were previously cared for in hospital, rehabilitation and chronic-care facilities. In-home nursing care is scarce or pricey.

The closure of hospital out-patient clinics has overburdened family doctors. By 2006, fewer than 10 percent of Ontario GPs were accepting new patients. a 2007 survey found that more than two million adult Canadians could not find a family doctor.

In 2005, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that lack of timely access to treatment in Quebec was serious enough that the province could no longer prohibit private funding for medically necessary services. Similar legal challenges are expected in the other provinces, as private medical facilities are pushing for the “right” to service those who can pay to go to the front of the line.

Ironically, while Americans long for a Canadian-style medical system, that system is disintegrating under the pressure of market forces.

This material is taken from “Sick and Sicker: Two Models of Medical Rationing” http://www.counterpunch.org/rosenthal06272007.html

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