I briefly tuned into a talk radio station I used to listen to. The Host is a Professional Conservative, that means he earns his daily bread by being a public Conservative. There are Professional Liberals, Socialist too among others, it doesn't have to be pejorative, that depends entirely on the individual.
When I tuned in the host was talking about that Liam Reid the young boy from Whitby who without surgery available only USA faces blindness. I didn't hear the complete setup to this segment so I have to give the host benefit of the doubt that he told the full story. (Given that the you are dealing with government agencies, funding programs, rare diseases, complexity is to be expected.) At the point I joined the conversation the host was decrying a system that would allow a child to go blind. He segued into an attack on the weakness inherent in publicly funded health care, the benefits of private health care, private insurance, the power of Free-market Capitalism that makes it all work and the value of personal choice/responsibility. In one segment he was able to hit four conservative high notes.
Had there been private health care the parents could have chosen to get some insurance, and not have to spend $45000 dollars of their own money.(This also acts as an indictment of public health care because they had to spend their own money.) A competitive insurance industry would keep insurance costs low, though this doesn't seem to work for the Americans. The excuse here is that States restrict cross border insurance therefor impair competition that would otherwise lower prices. This is debatable since you would expect that competition would eventually reduce the number of insurance companies, resulting in the price increases. Liam's disease is a preexisting condition, the cost of coverage regardless of competition might make premiums impossible to pay.
He mentions smart consumers affecting rates through buying power and word of mouth, as if buying health insurance is like buying a car, but it's not. If I want to be healthy I need insurance and I take my chances buying cheap coverage or none at all. You can compromise on a car but not on insurance. How can their be real competition with a product you need to have, as opposed to would like to have?
Part of Liam's problem is that the procedure can't be done in Canada, OHIP will usually pay in cases like that. For some reason they have denied the request insisting the work can be done at home. Though oddly they do pay cost for the other Ontario child that has the same problem. Free-market capitalism would invigorate the health care sector we are told . Again competition is cited as a means create incentive, meaning more doctors and more surgeries. It is possible that would happen, but to find out we need to abandon the public system.
Which brings us to Personal Responsibility and Choice. If we move to a private system and you don't get insurance, so you can't pay for health care, so you get sick and then die, it is ultimately your own on fault. If you chose to (have the money to) you buy insurance, you get sick, you get help , you live. When all else fails the conservative will trot this out. It is the escape clause that allows an otherwise rational person to live with massive amounts of injustice. As if it's just choice and not circumstances.
A note on one caller. This gentleman remarked that if it was McGuinty kid he would get the surgery, McGuinty makes lots of money paid by the Taxpayer and as a public servant he has superior Insurance. Typical talk show fare, A Liberal elite will jump the queue, is getting rich off us, has special coverage, not a lot of depth.
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