Lately, there have been a number of published articles about private healthcare in Canada.
For decades, this topic could not be discussed in public.
There still can’t be a real debate about the topic of private healthcare in Canada.
To discuss the private option is not acceptable according to Canadian mores.
Even when the head of the Canadian Medical Association describes the healthcare system as being in a crisis, we can’t talk about private options.
Even when there is a sober realization that the healthcare system is seriously underfunded and the existing infrastructure is not able to manage the workflows involved in treating patients, there is still a taboo in discussing private healthcare.
The Agenda on TVO had a discussion about private vs public healthcare.
Two discussants were clearly against anything private. One discussant was from the UK where 12% of the population have private health insurance.
The two discussants were able to prove based on the lack of solid studies, that the addition of private healthcare could not clear up the backlog of over 450,000 procedures including cancer and heart surgery.
The lack of published evidence is part of the taboo about discussing private healthcare in Canada.
The focus during the Agenda could have been on the patient experience.
This survey of the patient experience would have clearly pointed out what needs to be done to improve the system.
There are millions of unhappy patients.
The first step will be to start to openly discuss private vs public in the public forum.
And not just sit back passively and hope for a solution. Hope does not fix the broken system.
Ask Hannah Arendt about the limitations of hope which disarms the public, stops any discussion and so the healthcare crisis worsens.