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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-02-05, Page 41 Y• Opinion The future of health care is at stake Dear editor, I would like to bring your attention,to the Health Care Accessibility Act recently pro- posed by the Ontario Minister of Health, Mr. Murray Elston. The banning of extra -billing by all Ontario physicians is the most publicized issue in this legislation. In fact, its scope reaches far beyond extra -billing. At stake could be the entire future of the health care system of Ontario.4 feel that it may be the first planned step in controlling how doctors practise medicine; how den- tists take care of your teeth and how phar- macists dispense your drugs. The ultimate goal is to attain total control of health care in the Province of Ontario. This is frighten- ing. Just imagine" leaving the future of medical care in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians. The result would be disastrous. The eventual losers will be the patients, i.e., the people of Ontario. I have always stayed within the OHIP system.'I think this is the best health care system in the world and I intend to do my part to keep it this way. However, I also feel strongly about my professional freedom. ,The government 'has no right to interfere with what I do for rely patients or how I do it. You, as patients. also should have the freedom to choose which doctor, clinic, or • hospital to visit .and, if necessary, whic LETTERS BMW specialist to be referred to. This is freedom which all Ontario citizens should value. Unfortunately, this very freedom is being threatened by the Health Care Ac- cessibility Act. Extra -billing by itself does not deny medical treatment to patients as,, the Minister claims. I believe that the most pressing health care problem in Ontario to- ' day is that the government is not providing adequate funding for hospitals to replace old equipment, and to buy new and more ac- curate diagnostic equipment. More funding isjequired to expand the number of hospital beds as our population ages, to build and operate more facilities for the aged ( both in institutions and in the community)., to pro- vide adequate mental health services, and to provide funds for ,the training and facilities required in the fields of cardiac surgery, kidney dialysis and cancer treat- ment. Many of you may have experienced the turmoil of waiting for months to get a helative into a nursing home. Tragically, ome heart patients die while waiting for life-saving cardiac surgery. These types of problems are the result of insufficient health care funding: The Health Care Accessibility Act is, in my view, an oppressive legislation, which is an insult to my profession and which could lead to the erosion of the health care in On- tario. Therefore, I feel this legislation should not be passed in Ontario. If the Government is allowed to do this now, next year it will dictate which doctor you can or cannot see and, soon, it will dictate which drugstore you may or may not buy your drugs from! To help prevent this legislation from being passed, i'urge you, to send letters, as soon as possible, to: Mr. Jack Riddell, M.P.P., Huron -Middlesex Constituency Office, West Street, Goderich; Premier David Peter- sort, Queen's Park, Toronto,, M7A 1A1; Mr. Murray Elston, Minister of Health, Quee'n's Park, Toronto, M7A 2C4; and Mr. Larry Grossman, Leader or Opposition, Queen's Park, Toronto, M7A 1A2. The letter should state clearly that you are against the Health Care Accessibility Act. The future of the health care of Ontario is in .our hands, WE MUST ACT NOW. Yours sincerely, CHARLTON CHAN M.D. Goderich" Will doctorsreceive payment when they opt out? reader asks Dear editor: Re Extra -billing article, by Dr. K.C. :Lambert, Wednesday, January 29. I am not sure whether I will get the same space as the good doctor, but I could not let the continents go without an opinion about same. First, mine is an opinion which I am sure all doctors do not share. A lot of the com- ments the doctor made, I am sure on the surface are correct, but a little exag- gerated. ' 1- Take the option and opt out. I am sure a lot of your patients have a choice when 01 -IP sends their check direct to them to pay you and they need it to eat and pay the heat bills. 2 -1 am sure your patients are well aware of your medical costs and are very responsi- ble. Are you aware of their costs and respon- sibilities. Most (average person.) are under- paid, overworked. 3 - You may maintain your professiiat'in- dependence. I asked the boss once I had 35 yearervice with the company and Bill had five years, with all my experience and ex- pertise how come we were paid same rate • for the same job. I want to exercise my in- dependence and be paid more or extra bill the company. He agreed with me and exer- cised my independence. I am now on unemployment, insurance but I am indepen- dent. I assume the government in 1969 became the sole insurance carrier so that 100 per- cent of Canadians could have access not 85 percent. PSI no doubt served the public well but not for free. I never knew an Insurance Company to starve to death. During the 1970s most average people set an exemplary example of restraint. The ;'government failed to honour terms? I failed a little myself for reason of lack of money. When you felt compelled to deal with your patients directly to see what your services are really worth and give them an idea of health care costs, what are your services really worth? What price a life, love, help- ing a neighbor, FREE voluntary service by millions of people all over the world? What are you worth doctor? More than I am wor- th? To whgqm? Your family? My family? Your patient Your friend? Put a price on it, doctor. There are a great many things out of pro- portion in this life, doctor, due to many fac- tors. The car manufacturing labour's high wages. The shoe manufacturing labourer's minimum wage. Textile labour is low. Far- ming. They have lots of problems: Where do you fit in thesecategories doctor? Food. Clothes. Footwear. Transportation. Where does your lifestyle fit in these categories? What in life do you deserve? What size car? How much food and what quality of clothes and shoes? Most of your patients probably can't 'pay their necessary bills. Before you' can cure anybody, doctor, they have to be able to eat. Most people with medical problems and no OHIP probably would do with out, whatever the end results. Just as lawyers or in any other professional service, if you ' have or are making enough money, there never is a,problem. • As far as your mailing problems and book- keeping difficulties, we de have tax deduc- tions. I do my own bookkeeping and mailing when I pay you my bill, maybe I should charge 2 percent. I am going to pick out a couple more paragraphs from your column for discus- sion. I hope I don't leave out any real impor- tant ones. You mention legislation about physicians, ,dentists and optometrists. Well, the last time I had my eyes checked, very important my eyes, the government apparently told them they had to separate and list each in- dividual apense. Doctor examines eyes and is paid by OHIP. Frames are paid for by me. Doctor gets a cut. Lenses paid for by me. Doctor gets a cut. Came back to pickup glasses,. doctor puts them on my face, makes a little adjustment and„charges $50 over and above frames and lenses and ex- amination. $50 is about what I make in a day now. Next time doctor examines eyes, I take the prescription to optometrist, same lenses, spring sided gold glass•, frames tinted, estimate. from $120-$160-$240. The $240, he said, was a deal, $20.00 off or something. Point made I hope. Same doctors are willing to forego 25 per- cent (*their fee at this time, to avoid added _stress of dealing directly with their patients. There would be stress alright and, a lot of collection agencies involved, which also get Doctors are health care Dear Editor; - As a regular reader of the Signal Star I have realized that the paper has been delug- ed with physicians' opinions on the matter of Health Care Accessibility Act. Although I have written to my MPP Jack Riddell, Health Minister Moray Elston, and Premier David Peterson I .did not think I could add anything to what had already been express- ed in the previous letters by my colleagues. However, I read the January 29th letter entitled "Doctors Only See One, Viewpoint” by M. Cicchini and I wondered how is it, that people in this area suspect the motives of the physicians of Ontario that we are more concerned with our income than Health Care Accessibility and that we do not want to give up any power to the government. I think there are several reasons why the attitudes demonstrated in the aforemention- ed article have evolved. Firstly it seems that the only time the public hears from the doctors is when they are disputing fee schedules, .or when they get bad press coverage. There is some truth in this and it may be because when people reach into their wallets they start to get a little twit- chy. I am sure most readers could sym- pathize with the importance in their own lives of contract disputes; the unappealing thought of paying higher taxes and getting poorer services in return, etc. Contrary to the letter mentioned, doctors are not only concerned about what they get for delivering health care. Remember, they have your perspective too. They pay OHIP. They also pay high taxes which fund the Health Care System. So they are providers and consumers of health care and therefore they cannot "see only one viewpoint". The government and the press have made the issue one of "banning extra billing". The previous articles havae dealt with the misleading nature of this opinion. The Federal Liberal government developed the Canada Health Act to end the problem of financial strain resulting from a difference between a do ors fee and insurance coverage. In nin years of being involved in medicine . in On io, I have never even heard of a Canadian denied medical atten- tion for that reason, although I have witnessed, people who have had to wait long periods of time for pressing surgeryor sophisticated but expensive tests. I submit that the problem of health care accessibility is not due to balanced billing by a minority of opted out physicians, but that it is due to the inability to fund a high-tech, heavily utilized health care,system. When I have a patient who cannot get into a Chronic Care facility, or cannot get a CT 'scan for one or two months, I am not think- ing about extra billing but about a system that is strained and underfunded. -Again I refute the idea of having only "one view- point". There is a power struggle here.. The government made an election issue out of a Extra -billing means the best in medical care, says reader GODERICH SIGNAL•STAR, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1986—PAGE 5 3:11° •1' iI arra •Ntakr-mer •Urapetl in all 4 Seasons •High Qualit) S„atch Bunk •Tip. uo Hair & Accessories OPEN Thur'sday, Friday & Saturday 10 a.ni. - 4 p.m: .000401.004: e.Ic A• N• A.L.\..S.1.S ont'ned & operated b% NANCl. F•I.l .NN 53 VICTORIA ST., S. Goderich. Ont. Jana Natural Funds Building f or •tn Appointrnent I:a1I 524-4931 . 482-3312 (Res.) a collection percentage and there are inure problems. OHi: looks better all the time. • Civilservants' are no going to like you for calling them dependent. The public is not aware of many of the un- paid hours that physicians work largely on a voluntary basis. I think most of the public are well aware of the fine job most physi- cians do in this capacity. My question is: Are you aware of the°fine job the public does in this same field. About OHIP being paid by companies they work for, this may be correct in some cases but for the majority it is not. I worked for. one of the largest companies in Canada. They deducted OHIP from my pay stub and an added deduction for prescriptions and semi private coverage. All the above things I paid myself and still do on pension. I. will snake my pay stubs available to you if you wish. If the company does not deduct from your pay stubs, you must forward it yourself and DON'T miss a premium. About physicians leaving the country. I resent that statement. Some will always leave for one reason or another. You work in some of the best facilities in the world and they don't come out your pocket any •more than anyone elses. Very few countries have no better and that goes for buildings .and equipment. It is provided by government, that's you and I in this case by volunteer donations from wills, service clubs, private donations and a good 'many more sources with a lot of hard work. About the flyer and losing money. Join the club, doc. Do your shoes have any bigger holes than mine? I worked on a job for 32 years with a lot of freedom too doctor. I was free to work most holidays including Christmas and New Years. I also raised four children. I worked all three shifts in the day with hardly any weekends off. You probably used our ser- vice a time or two. Why., didn't you stay • home Sunday? Maybe I could have too. As you say, doctor, I could have moved out of the country, or starved or changed jobs. That's what freedom is all about. This is my opinion. You had yours. This is mine. To repeat, I probably missed a few points, but would be glad to discuss it with you anytime. , Dear Editor, We must fight for our excellent standard of medical care in this province, for now and our future. As stated before, extra -billing is not the issue. Only 12 per cent of doctors extra -bill. The independence and freedom of doctors is only pne side of it. The other side is our need 'for the best in medical care, for ourselves and our children. So now, let us sit down today, and Write Mr. Riddell, Mr. Elston and Mr. Peterson and let them know we agree to extra -billing. We have to move forward and continue to have quality care given, in emergency situations, surgery, and cancer treatment. Lillian Mathieson D. Wilson Kingsbridge consumers 2 Return? Are your investments really working? If your investments are rail averaging at least 20%, annually, then you may wish to Ick>k at other. opportunities. . Bolton, Tremblay International Fund - an internationally diversified investment fund, as of Dei ember 31, 1984, has averaged better than 20% over the past ten years, 1"year growth 37°9% -average per year 3 year growth 21.3% average per year 5 year growth ° 20.5% average per year Of course, past pertornianc r is no guarantee of suture results. Lt is however, an important tactor to consider when deciding upon how to 10d1u., your, money grow. Sold under prospectus. Available through Bolton Tremblay or authori✓ed dealers. REGAL CAPITAL PLANNERS LTD. 609 WILLIAM ST. SUITE 201 LONDON, ONT. N6B 3G1 • For more information contact DENNIS LITTLE, 53A West Street Goderich 524-4464 DENNIS LITI LE popular . idea to ban "balanced billing". Minister Elston says he is committed to this. • The problem is that this action will not cor- rect the problem. It will create monies presently withheld by Ottawa to penalize provinces that extra bill but this isa token amount compared to what is needed to heal the wounds. It would seem prudent and urgent that the government and the public realize that the bottom of the system will fall out when our population becomes in- creasingly elderly and illness prone, requir- ing heavier medical care for longer periods of time. Where are the bucks going to come from? Are people willing to pay higher taxes? Are they willing to pay higher insurance premiums? Are they willing to sustain cuts in health service? I believe all the above will happen if people will not pay for the service , directly. Somebody has to pay for it. • - As an Ontarian I am proud of the existing system, although like all systems it has its pitfalls. Earnestly, I am concerned for its future and the aim of this letter is to con- vince you that you should be concerned also. You must r ask yourself why Ontario's opted -in physicians are up in arms about this legislation. We have nothing to gain financially. We need the freedom of opting out so that we can faithfully negotiate with the government and therefore have a say in how health care is delivered to our patients. Yes, we feel we have a right to have major input into how health care is delivered, since we are responsible for the major part of its delivery. I have attempted to give you a balanced approach to this debate. Unfortunately this issue is confused by pro and con articles. - The reader will have to determine his own opinion. My hope is that the readers will' have a real., concern and be moved to write theieMPP, the Minister of Health and. the Premier to show these politicians how they feel. I have. I think every physician is too involved and too concerned to "see only one view point". Yours truly, Derek J. Pearce, M.D., C.C.P'.P. Four kups 11.