Canadians don’t like to talk about private medicine. The whole idea violates a central aspect of our national mythology and a point of great pride: public health care for all.
But lately, more and more Canadians are using their credit cards to get faster care for their medical problems. I’ve heard about people getting their own MRI scans in advance of doctor appointments to speed things up. Canadians are increasingly paying out of pocket for hip and knee replacements, spending $30,000 or more at private clinics or travelling out of province to skirt regulatory restrictions.
Perhaps even more shocking is how much people are paying just to access family physicians. So-called “executive clinics” charge members a few thousand dollars a year to guarantee the availability of ordinary medical appointments. New virtual health-care companies, a budget-friendly way to see family doctors for everyday ailments, charge by the hour.
I find all of this disorienting. How is private care legal in a country famous for its single-payer setup? How have corporate solutions been allowed to creep into the public system?
The journalist Christina Frangou set out to answer such questions in her deeply reported June issue cover story, “Private Health Care Is Here.” Frangou has been writing about health care for 20 years and has watched with dismay as the Canadian system has become overburdened and antiquated. Her eye-opening account of the current landscape is deeply empathetic to Canadians everywhere looking for good, speedy medical treatment. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
–Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief
