Well, it appears that medical students and patients do.
A recent news article in the Toronto Globe and Mail revealed a problem that is familiar to many sick Canadians and U.S. health policy experts: Canada’s rationing of medical technology.
About the only ones apparently not familiar with the problem—or do they just choose to look the other way—are the U.S. advocates for a Canadian-style single payer health care system.
The article highlights the dearth of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners in the province of Ontario, Canada’s most populated province. “As of Oct. 31, 408 [Ontario] patients had obtained PET scans through the [government] registry and 926 patients had scans as part of clinical trials.”
It doesn’t have to be that low. The article goes on to say that Quebec, also part of Canada’s single payer system, plans on doing 21,000 scans this year. Providing access to this technology is a political decision in Canada, not medical.
PET scanners are cutting-edge technology that can be extremely useful in locating cancers. Of course, early detection is often key to successfully treating cancer. But the province of Ontario has made the decision to spend money elsewhere.
However, as the article explains the shortage is so acute that some medical schools can’t train specialists in the use of the machines.
Now, you might say so what? Why train doctors when there aren’t many machines available for patients anyway? Good point, but the school insists that it must provide the specialist training in reading the scan results.
So what’s the school going to do? Why, send the students to the U.S., of course. Actually, it would be more accurate to say the school will let them travel to the U.S.—at their own personal expense, mind you—to get their training.
Some Canadian patients are also sent to the U.S. “In 2005-2006, 82 Ontarians were sent out of the country for PET scans at a cost of $653,255, while 42 others were denied,” according to official figures.
So as you hear more and more calls over the next year or two for the government to make sure health care is “affordable,” you might consider that the easiest way to do that is to limit access to the newest technology.
If you don’t believe us, just ask an Ontario cancer patient. You can probably find him at a good U.S. hospital.