Guest nonce Posted March 7, 2003 Report Share Posted March 7, 2003 can anyone shine any light on to the difference b/w private, not for profit health care, and our public health care.....like who pays for private not for profit? I was reading an article by a professor at Mcmaster uni, who said that private for profit, or private not for profit (any type of private) health care leads to an increased amount of deaths in renal dialysis patients....this is due to the fact that the companies (if you call them that) must pay money to shareholders and for tax, and to make sure that the proper revenue is met, they cut corners.....whereas the public system can allow the full amount of money to be put towards patient care, with no need to cut corners....He concluded by saying that it is time we step away from ideologies, and take a look at statistics (or somehting like that) when examining health care.....which i thought was pretty interesting (the fact that if we just looked at the numbers, the debate may be more easily resolved, but i know its not that easy)... THis leads me to my quesiton...when he was talking about private, not for profit i was confused...thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted March 7, 2003 Report Share Posted March 7, 2003 Moving out of the Saskatchewan forum into the Medical Interviews forum... Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest macdaddyeh Posted March 7, 2003 Report Share Posted March 7, 2003 I hope to share some info that will clear the public/private issue for all (based on my limited expertise, having taken a course in CDN public health policy). Most health care in Canada is publicly funded but privately delivered. That is, hospitals and doctor's offices operate on a non-profit basis. Canada does NOT have a socialized system of medicine, as is the case in Cuba for example, where the government pays health personnel directly (with the exception of some functions ie. military medicine, federal penitentiaries, native reserves, etc). All health care delivery has been regionalized in Canada with the radical exception of Ontario, meaning that the fed govt gives money through Canada health and social transfer (CHST) to the provinces who in turn gives it to regional amalgamated boards as opposed to giving it directly to individual hospitals. They decide the distribution of funds from there, often, but not always based on community needs. For-profit health delivery in Canada is illegal as per the Canada Health Act of 1984, with the exception of those services which fall outside of the parameters of "medically necessary" (ie. plastic surgery facilities). That said, however, Alberta and Quebec have made loose translations of the CHA and have operated in some instances for profit care services etc. With reference to "medically necessary" and "private" medical needs, the ONLY legally-sanctioned private delivery in Canada operates in the realm of supplemental benefits ie. pharmaceuticals, eyeglasses and dental needs which are usually paid out of pocket or through employer insurance but only in very rare circumstances by the government. De-insured services are those services for which a physician may also legally and professionally charge a fee and not be in contravention of any laws or codes of conduct (ie. third party letters, sick notes, reversal of vasectomies and other things not deemed to be "medically necessary" {a very value-laden idea}). I could go on and on but this was a broad and general overview. I hope this helps! PS...I think all potential applicants MUST have an understanding of their federal and/or provincial medical systems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nonce Posted March 7, 2003 Report Share Posted March 7, 2003 excuse my ignorance, but i would like to clarify. Is private, not for profit another way of saying public (i.e. not payed for by the individual, but rather through the provincial gov't).....or are they two different thigns....i understand the concept of private/public....but was assuming that private not for profit was public......but im not sure..... sorry, and thanks again for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest macdaddyeh Posted March 7, 2003 Report Share Posted March 7, 2003 You are partially right: Purely publicly (government) owned and operated hospitals are very rare. One example of this is that the government of ontario owns and operates a tuberculosis treatment facility in Toronto. Some homes for the aged and all prison inmate health centres are government run. Private, not-for-profit is the most common type of delivery modality. That is, most hospitals/health facilities are privately owned and operated on a not-for-profit basis--in other words the prov govt provides cash to them to care for patients so that a facility need not and can not demand payment from provincially insured patients. Again exceptions to this rule would be non-residents who must pay. On the other hand, because these facilities are self-labeled "non profit" that does not mean they can not attempt to raise a profit outside of the realm of patient care. For example, we've all seen the princess margaret lottery or the other fundraising campaigns for research or equipment, the parking fees, gift shops, cafeteria food, etc. These are all external and valid sources of non-government income. One more thing...another purely private type of health facility that is entitled to operate under Canadian law is an "addiction treatment centre" (but most are not private--very costly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.