Dear Editor:
In 2008, Premier Brad Wall told reporters that offering MRI services for a user fee “seems to be outside the Canada Health Act” and was an area where the government did not want to tread.
Unfortunately, the new Bill 179 is taking the province down this path.
Bill 179 permits private MRI clinics to charge patients out-of-pocket user fees for MRI services, which will allow patients to jump the queue for diagnosis and treatment.
Earlier this year, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) commissioned Steven Shrybman, a lawyer with Goldblatt Partners LLP, to prepare a legal opinion on whether Bill 179: Private MRI Facilities Licensing Act violates the criteria and/or requirements of the Canada Health Act.
Shrybman concluded that Bill 179 would violate the criteria and requirements of the Canada Health Act because the privatization of certain MRI services under Bill 179 would allow some insured persons to receive expedited medical diagnoses and follow-up treatment because they can afford to purchase diagnostic services privately. As well, by creating two-tiered medical care, Bill 179 offends the criteria established by the Canada Health Act, and in particular the requirement that all “insured health services” be provided to insured persons on “uniform terms and conditions.”
Saskatchewan does not need to move towards two-tiered health care. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Saskatchewan posted typical waiting times for MRIs at 28 days. Conversely, in Alberta, even with private user-pay clinics, typical wait times for an MRI scan were 80 days.
CUPE opposes Bill 179 which, if implemented, will lead to the erosion of our public health care system that Saskatchewan people hold dear. Bill 179 is a misguided response to a complex situation. CUPE urges the government to abandon Bill 179 and the option of private user-pay MRI clinics and to ensure that medical access is based on need, not ability to pay.
It is time to invest in public solutions to waitlists.
Gordon Campbell
President Saskatchewan CUPE Health Care Council of Unions
