As long as I am saying things that will upset fellow Canadians, a little witnessing on health care. In a little while I will call my doctor's office to book my annual checkup. They will tell me that the soonest my doctor can see me is more than two months away. The day I show up, I will sit in the waiting room for twenty to thirty minutes. Then I will be shown to an examining room where I will wait another ten. My doctor will then come in and try and get the session over as quickly as possible (typically, I'll get less than ten minutes) because she is only allowed to bill a flat rate for this visit and she can maximize her profit by making each session shorter and seeing more patients. (That, BTW, is why the huge wait. For this profit-maximizing to work, the waiting room has to be full of patients.)
On the other hand, neither my optometrist nor my dentist visits are covered. When I call them, they can get me in next week. If I say I'm in a hurry, they'll find a way to get me in tomorrow or even this afternoon. When I arrive, the wait, if there is one, will be less than five minutes. The equipment is newer and better; the appointment is longer. I can sit around a few minutes and discuss my eyes or teeth with them (if I try that at my doctor's I will be brushed off or told to make another appointment so she can bill for it).
And the level of service we are getting from our doctors and hospitals has been steadily declining all my adult life. There is no reason to believe it won't be even worse a decade from now.
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