More and more high-profile Canadian doctors are speaking out against the rise of for-profit health care, arguing that companies charging patients to access primary care are violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the Canada Health Act.
This includes private medical clinics or virtual care platforms to which patients pay membership or subscription fees to get medically necessary care already covered under provincial health insurance plans.
"I think the biggest concerns lie with private pay issues that are arising from things like user fees and extra-billings being passed on to patients that are really beginning to distort access to care," said Jane Philpott, a family physician, former federal health minister and currently dean of the faculty of Health Sciences at Queen's University.
"A fundamental pillar of how our Canadian health insurance plan was designed was to ensure that people have access based on medical need rather than ability to pay."
But, she adds, "you can't blame the people who are pulling out their chequebook or credit card because they're just desperate to get help. The blame here lies in not fixing the health system issues that are causing all these access problems."
Philpott's comments come after the release of a draft policy paper by the Canadian Medical Association late last month setting out its positions on the intersection of for-profit business with the public health care system. The paper put forward nearly two dozen recommendations, including calling for an end to patients being charged fees to gain access to primary care covered by universal health care. More than 20 per cent of Canadians do not have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
After the release of the CMA paper, the Star reached out to four physicians at the top of their fields, including Philpott, to ask what keeps them up at night when it comes to the expansion of for-profit health care.
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Disgraceful behaviour on Parliament Hill
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