Bottom line: The province of British Columbia claims that there is constitutional right to health care. Yet, it’s illegal to pay a doctor for services for medical care that’s covered by the government plan. But why would you do that? Maybe if you want the care now, instead of waiting until, you know, you’re untreatable or dead.
From the Vancouver Sun:
In a B.C. Supreme Court document … the health minister, attorney-general and Medical Services Commission of B.C. deny the clinic operators’ claims that patients have a constitutional guarantee of access to medical care in the private or public systems.
“There is no freestanding constitutional right to health care,” the government’s statement of defence says in contending that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn’t protect patients who wait long periods for care.
The counterclaim against the Cambie Surgery Centre and the Specialist Referral Clinic (SRC), where patients pay to get expedited treatment, says the government has “reason to believe” that patients have paid doctors directly for insured services covered by the public medical plan, in violation of provincial statutes that forbid such extra billing.
(via John Graham at StateHouseCall)
