Category: Politics

Most people are too polite to tell you what they think. Even when it feels like someone was courageously honest, they still held back their strongest opinions.

This week, several dozen doctors met just west of Toronto to tell the OMA what they thought. It was one of many meetings booked across the province. Dr. Virginia Walley, OMA President, handled the questions and feedback.

Most docs pulled their punches and were polite. Even so, they offered bitter medicine. Continue reading “Doctors Need a Champion”

Canadian healthcare stands paralyzed in a Robert Frost poem:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

– The Road Not Taken

Wooly-minded people pretend binary choices do not exist. They think we can choose both roads. Or they think one road will always be clearly wrong, as long as we use logic, facts and good will in choosing.

Doctors face two roads every day:

Do we do what’s best for the patient and prescribe an expensive treatment, or do we do what’s best for society and save the money for something else?

Until recently, doctors just prescribed what patients needed. Continue reading “Healthcare System vs Patients – Stewardship Part II”

Almost 50% of couples divorce, but 90% never fight about money, according to a new study.

Government has fought with doctors for almost 50 years now, and it looks like all they do is argue over money. This assumption is reasonable, and wrong.

Money is a Distraction

Most grownups pay attention to their accounts. They limit debt and make payments on time. They know that money runs out.

Government takes a different approach. In part, government does not need to worry; it can always raise taxes. But voters will not tolerate anything. Taxes run out, too.

When doctors and government fight about money, observers often miss an important point: Government does not really need to worry about the money it spends on doctors. Continue reading “Not About the Money”