Politicians confront impossible decisions. Do they fund education or healthcare? Do they fix poverty or illiteracy?
Our leaders live out Sophie’s Choice all the time, one child goes to die and the other lives.
At least that’s what you’re supposed to think.
Meryl Streep won an academy award as Sophie. She chose her son, Jan, for the children’s camp. Her daughter, Eva, went to the gas chambers. Watch the movie.
Healthcare versus Windmills
Premier Wynne and Health Minister Hoskins deserve an award, too. They insist that the only way to pay for teachers and nurses is to cut doctors.
They say doctors got a raise. That’s like saying school enrolment went up so we hired hundreds more teachers, which produced a raise for teachers.
Politicians repeat it so often; we must assume they think voters stupid enough to believe it.
Moral philosophy classes used to be taught using impossible moral dilemmas.
“Suppose a train is approaching 2 tracks and must choose one.
Your only daughter plays on one track, and a school bus full of children sits stalled across the tracks on the other line.
You control a switch to send the train down either track.
The train has no brakes.
Which track do you choose?”
Wynne and Hoskins face a dilemma: cut projects like Wind Turbines, or fund healthcare. But it’s not a moral dilemma. They face a personal dilemma, a challenge of integrity.
Do they admit bad decisions, or do they put a hard cap on healthcare?
Patients want to know. Will the system be there for me when I need it, as I get older? Patients can see that caps on spending won’t hurt immediately. They understand that it will take time.
Arbitration, Not Legislation
Doctors will not act against patients. They will always care for their own. But doctors will not accept more complex, elderly patients.
They cannot.
The province penalizes doctors for seeing more, providing more care. The province claws back doctors’ billing for seeing more patients. The province put a hard cap on medical spending.
We can do better than this. We can build a system that’s great for patients and fair for doctors and nurses. We need to start with patient needs at the center.
- What will the aging baby boomers need?
- How can we plan to meet their medical needs?
- Does cutting doctors now help us meet those needs?
Everyone makes mistakes. Politicians need a wide swath of grace. We’d all screw-up if we were in office. That’s why we elect politicians, not actors. We elect character, not panache.
It is government’s responsibility to get back to table and fix this mess. Get an agreement with doctors.
Doctors cannot strike. They can only take legal action as a proxy for job action. And doctors will do it. We have no other choice. It will take years to settle. Let’s hope it happens before cuts hurt patients. Let’s hope Premier Wynne wakes up and starts funding healthcare versus windmills.
photo credit: news.ontario.ca
As always your article is excellent. I have only one gripe with it: you were way too kind in your description of politicians.
[Huge smile] Thanks Gerry! A senior leader told me Minister Hoskins complained about a tweet I made in the spring. Funny he only mentioned it now… But anyhow, I’m trying to be very deferential where possible. 😉 I guess we ought not to attribute maleficence where ignorance will do fine.
Warm regards,
Shawn
Just to give you a bit of feedback. “Friends” on my Facebook page and in my Facebook groups (mainly my Talk Politics group) are starting to respond to – and share – your articles that I share on Facebook as well as OMA and CMA posts that have a “patient” focus to them. I think the message is starting to get through to them. It’s certainly not a groundswell by any means, but it is a start towards getting the general public on board. I am definitely noticing a lot more doctors signing on to twitter and posting. I know you invest a lot of time and thought in your posts and wanted to give you a bit of feedback. I have certainly been encouraged by the fact that more people are starting to notice and are responding.
Thanks Valerie! This really helps. Not everyone will get as excited about all the details and swings in politic breezes. But if we can get even 1 or 2 people to talk about caps, that would be fantastic!
Again, I really appreciate you taking time to read, comment and offer some encouragement. People want to know what other readers are thinking.
Kind regards,
Shawn
” I guess we ought not to attribute maleficence where ignorance will do fine.”
With what happened these last two months with OMA’s pushing the Yes side so vigorously, I will extend your thought a bit and say that the kindest thing that I can about the OMA is that it is a very poor negotiator.
You are very kind, indeed. 😉
Thanks again, Gerry!