Pandora's Hospital

So a couple weeks ago I posted on the Conservative health care position. It was tough to unravel but here's the relevant portion of the article again:

Alberta can go ahead with all the health reforms it likes - so long as it stays within the rules of the Canada Health Act, says a spokesman for the incoming Conservative government...
...Stairs said Harper made his position clear during the election campaign and reaffirmed it Friday: "Mr. Harper has said changes should be made within the Canada Health Act."

Date of these comments? January 27th.

Since then (Jan 31st) The Alberta Cabinet voted on health reforms. A couple of quotes:

...the Alberta cabinet was presented with a nine-point health reform plan that would allow doctors to practise in both private and public systems - charging some patients directly and billing medicare for others...
..."I think the Ralph and Stephen honeymoon is going to end very quickly on this issue," Taft said in an interview. "If Stephen Harper is as good as his word and wants to prove that to Canadians, he committed to enforcing the Canada Health Act . And I hope he's got the backbone to stand up to them."

Ok so this isn't exactly unexpected, the Alberta government has been eyeing these changes for a long time, arguably they've been checked by Liberal threats under the CHA.

Fast Forward a couple weeks. This past Tuesday, Gordon Campbell's Liberal government came out with a throne speech for the legislative session with a new position on BC Health Care. Some highlights from the Speech:

Does it really matter to patients where or how they obtain their surgical treatment if it is paid for with public funds?

Why are we so afraid to look at mixed health care delivery models, when other states in Europe and around the world have used them to produce better results for patients at a lower cost to taxpayers?

Why are we so quick to condemn any consideration of other systems as a slippery slope to an American-style system that none of us wants?

And why shouldn’t we build our health care system on a foundation of sustainability? Are we really ensuring that the health care entitlements we enjoy as Canadians will be there for our children and future generations as our population ages?

At the same time, the man in line for the presidency of the Canadian Medical Association is a strong advocate of a two-tier health care system. He had this to say:

Dr. Day, founder of the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver, said yesterday he is not a one-issue candidate who sees private health care as some kind of cure-all. But he said that, as president, he would press to win a bigger role for the private sector to help fix a system he considers to be profoundly ill.

And now today, the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Jean Charest, after spending a good chunk of time with the new Prime Minister yesterday, announces his own planned reforms. These include a guarantee of wait times as well as an increased role for a private system. “We’re putting the private sector to work for the public,” Charest told a news conference. He's calling this “a new era” for health care in Quebec.

So now that three seperate provinces have announced their intentions to reform the Health care system, you'd think the Federal government might have something to say. Especially since I imagine Mr. Harper got a heads up on the Quebec paper yesterday. Here's what newly minted health Minister Tony Clement had to say: "As federal Minister of Health, I believe that the Canada Health Act affords opportunity for innovation in health care delivery."

So there you have it folks, A Change is Gonna Come. It looks like Canadians who support the medicare monopoly would have been better off with Stockwell day than with Prime Minister Harper.