Social Essay Health Care
Private Options Complement Public Health Care At the end of 2011, an unknown author wrote an article entitled “Canada must offer private options to combat long wait times.” He begins by describing many of the problems that Canadian health care is facing and then moves on to discuss the implementation of private health care as a part of Canada’s overall health care system.
The author provides numerous statistics concerning public health care cost and how private health care is not only a necessity but also something for which many people would be willing to pay. The author uses the title to grab the reader’s attention as “long wait times” is one of the major issues facing the health system, but he is really making the case that private health care can and should be a part of the public healthcare system in Canada. This writer agrees with the author and believes that private care that complements the public health care system would improve this system and be beneficial to the health of all Canadians.
The title of the article aptly addresses one way that private options can benefit the public healthcare system; by reducing the long wait times Canadians face. As of the end of 2014, the national median wait time was more than 18 weeks. In some provinces the wait is as much as 37 weeks. This is obviously a problem for public health. Long wait times are not benign inconveniences. Wait times can have serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering, and mental anguish. In certain instances, they can also result in poorer medical outcomes. For example, one of this writer’s peers had to wait almost three years for scoliosis surgery. By the time of the surgery, her back had degenerated so severely, surgery could not fix everything. Other patients may also lose their wages while they wait for treatment, resulting in an economic cost to themselves and to the economy in general. Implementing private health care options that
The author provides numerous statistics concerning public health care cost and how private health care is not only a necessity but also something for which many people would be willing to pay. The author uses the title to grab the reader’s attention as “long wait times” is one of the major issues facing the health system, but he is really making the case that private health care can and should be a part of the public healthcare system in Canada. This writer agrees with the author and believes that private care that complements the public health care system would improve this system and be beneficial to the health of all Canadians.
The title of the article aptly addresses one way that private options can benefit the public healthcare system; by reducing the long wait times Canadians face. As of the end of 2014, the national median wait time was more than 18 weeks. In some provinces the wait is as much as 37 weeks. This is obviously a problem for public health. Long wait times are not benign inconveniences. Wait times can have serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering, and mental anguish. In certain instances, they can also result in poorer medical outcomes. For example, one of this writer’s peers had to wait almost three years for scoliosis surgery. By the time of the surgery, her back had degenerated so severely, surgery could not fix everything. Other patients may also lose their wages while they wait for treatment, resulting in an economic cost to themselves and to the economy in general. Implementing private health care options that