Canada: A country you want to stay healthy in
RightGirl at Girl on the Right on Mar 12 2008 at 3:12 pm | Filed under: Feature Article, Socialized Medicine
From today’s G&M comes the story of Sylvia de Vries, who had an unusually large tumor that wasn’t being treated swiftly enough in Ontario. So she made the trek south to the USA, got her surgery, got her chemo, and is alive and well as we speak.
What she’s not getting is her expenses ($60,000) reimbursed by the diaper-clad Ontario Health Minister, George “I fund sex changes” Smitherman.
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan says it won’t pay for the $60,000 cancer treatment because Ms. de Vries did not fill out the correct form seeking preapproval for out-of-country care.
As well, it says no medical documentation was submitted that indicated a delay in obtaining the service in Ontario would result in death or medically significant, irreversible tissue damage.
That administrative misstep has left Ms. de Vries, a 51-year-old corporate communications manager, with a staggering cancer bill. She has drained her savings, maxed out her credit cards, taken out a line of credit and relied on friends to hold a spaghetti-dinner fundraiser, which earned $11,125.
Clearly, something needs to be done. But what? Should Smitherman use his discretionary privilege to pay back her $60K?
Frankly, I don’t think so.
Ms. de Vries had the money - if not in cash, then still readily available - to seek the best treatment in the most expedient way. This is a benefit that many of us do not enjoy. She was able to make her escape and procure the care she needed to save her life. Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it can give you another 20 years or so to try and find it!
However, having said that, I feel that Ms. de Vries should be compensated in other ways. Perhaps the cost of surgery and treatment should be tax deductible. If this were the case for any of us who source outside medical care, perhaps we could eliminate a good deal of the red tape.
Maybe a settlement can be made for a portion of the care costs, equalling roughly what Ms. de Vries will have paid in Ontario and Canada health taxes. Or even let her live out the rest of her life free of Provincial taxes.
But I don’t think that the full amount should be refunded by the government. To do so is to go against what people like me have been asking for: the right to pay for our own medical care.
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