Money cannot capture the cost of waiting. Single-Payer healthcare separates costs and benefits.

Politicians and bureaucrats draft attractive policies but ignore the costs of their plans.

Waiting for care robs the Canadian economy of almost $15 billion. Patients lose over $2 billion as individuals.

But money misses the most important robbery.

Many patients awaiting hip replacement cannot play with their grandkids and struggle with basic bodily functions.

Self-employed plumbers cannot crawl under cottages to fix plumbing, while they wait for new knees.

Single-Payer Costs

Waiting for care costs. Most of the costs cannot be measured. Every Mom, Dad, and business-owner puts a huge burden on all the people who depend on them, when they are forced to wait for care.

I received this from a physician: Continue reading “Cost of Waiting Under Single-Payer Healthcare”

Some board games almost guarantee war. 

Most families avoid conflict to maintain unity. But Risk, Taboo, and Twister after supper can turn the nicest people sour.

Most doctors avoid conflict. But given the right incentives and structures, doctors will attack each other, just like everyone else in society.

The Divide – Belong Paradox

People naturally divide. And people want to belong. In order to belong to one thing, we have to divide from something else. Our need for belonging fuels our desire to divide from those to whom we do not belong.

Focusing on differences creates tribalism, populism, activism, and identity politics.

We face a paradox. Tribes maintain unity by emphasizing how tribe members differ from outsiders. But if tribes turn their passion for difference onto those inside the tribe, it falls apart.

If we focus on tribes and division, we will remain divided and at odds with each other.

How can we foster unity in the midst of diversity?

How can we celebrate pluralism without becoming an indistinct mush?

How can doctors work together to make major decisions that impact specialities in different, unequal ways without causing war? Continue reading “Why Doctors Divide & How to Build Unity”

Imagine that all bakers were nationalized under the Canada Food Act, also known as Foodiecare.

Selling bread is too important to leave to bakers.

Bakers may sell bread, but only under special rules, unknown to most customers. Customers need protection. They might buy bread they do not need.

If Sally wants bread, Bob the baker must sell only bread. If Sally wants bread and bagels, Bob must give the bagels for free or ask Sally to buy the bagels tomorrow.

Sometimes, Bob feels guilty and gives the bagels for free. Bob tells himself that he has spare time; the bagels might not sell anyways. Bob often forgets about his mal-baking insurance, continuing baking education, and saving for retirement at 73.

Canadian Bakers for Foodiecare say the cost of bagels is already priced into the average loaf of bread.

Furthermore, bakers have a privileged status under Foodiecare. People always want bread. And Canadian bakers do not have to pay for advertising and administration.

Not Eligible for Payment

In Ontario, it is illegal to bill a patient for medically necessary care if the government has decided that the care in question is “not eligible for payment”. Continue reading “Not Eligible for Payment, but Medically Necessary”