Dear Editor
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is once again contemplating rewarding his friends by privatizing Saskatchewan's health care and allowing private companies to charge people directly for diagnostic medical scans. Since Alberta private MRIs range from $895 (single unit scan) to $2,450 (full-bodied scan), those with the bucks will be able to jump to the head of the treatment line.
Private clinics will simply drain trained staff from the public clinics thus lengthening wait times there.
If Wall were sincere in reducing the MRI wait line, he would simply allocate more funds to hire and train more staff for our public operated MRIs allowing them to operate extended hours. I assume they presently operate only eight hours a day.
If one can afford to pay for private MRIs, they can well afford a higher tax rate for health. Of course that wouldn't line the pockets of Wall's corporate buddies - would it?
Joyce Neufeld
Waldeck
