Do private, for-profit clinics save taxpayers money and reduce wait times? The data says no – CBC

‘Privatization is such a broad term that it’s basically useless,’ says one doctor

Mar 14, 2023

There’s a lot of talk these days about an increased role for private health-care clinics in Canada, sparked in part by Premier Doug Ford’s plans to significantly increase the number of Ontario surgeries done in for-profit clinics.

Despite promises from Ford and others that it will streamline services and solve the issue of long wait times, health-care professionals that CBC News interviewed say there are nuances and that such happy outcomes are not borne out by the data.

In fact, data from B.C. and from other countries suggests private, for-profit surgery clinics will likely increase the true cost to taxpayers and could worsen wait times in Ontario hospitals.

To start, it’s important to understand that every doctor is a private contractor. They bill for their services. And that figure — along with nursing staff, overhead and other costs — factors into the final bill.

“Privatization is such a broad term that it’s basically useless,” according to Dr. Melanie Bechard, a pediatrician at CHEO in Ottawa and president of Canadian Doctors for Medicare.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/private-health-care-taxpayer-money-1.6777470