Editor, The News:
Is MSP a scam?
Canada has a universal health care plan paid for by income, sales, and corporate taxes. I’m not here to argue whether we have good or bad service, or the system is inefficient or underfunded. That’s up to the politicians and the public to decide.
I just want to ask the question: do we get better service in B.C. than the rest of Canada because we have MSP insurance?
The definition of insurance: a practice or arrangement by which a company or government agency provides a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a premium.
What are some of the services covered under B.C. Health Insurance: medically required services provided by a physician, as well as diagnostic services when ordered by a doctor, midwife, podiatrist, dental surgeon or oral surgeon. For example, X-rays and blood work are covered.
ICBC is a government insurance plan, as well as WorkSafe.
If your back is injured in a car accident or at work, they will pay to have it fixed publicly or privately as soon as possible.
There is already a multi-tier system in Canada. Workers compensation boards, the RCMP, Indian Affairs Ministry, insurance companies and the federal corrections department regularly pay for their clients to receive prompt medical care at private surgical clinics in Canada.
Let’s look at the B.C. MSP. What do we get from this MSP insurance plan that the rest of Canada doesn’t?
Do we get faster service or better service? If we have a back injury, is it fixed in a timely manner?
I feel that our medical system is no better than the rest of Canada, so why are we forced to pay for insurance that doesn’t change what we get without it?
My sister, who is retired, had to pay privately to have her back fixed because she could no longer take the pain. The only thing that would help is pain killers, which are addictive.
She had to borrow money to pay the $20,000 or so dollars to fix the problem.
My sister pays MSP premiums and couldn’t wait the year and a half to have her back fixed under the public system.
Because she has MSP insurance, I believe she should be reimbursed like ICBC would under the same situation if her car was in an accident.
If MSP is insurance, then MSP needs to reimburse my sister as she has proof of the injury that falls under MSP, and she used the government-approved doctors to fix the problem.
If MSP is not real insurance, then the government needs to stop billing us and fund the medical services like the rest of Canada.
Gary Fowle
Maple Ridge