From when should we be indignant about the delays in the operation of the public health system in Quebec?
It is often not by choice that we have to turn to the private sector. It’s usually out of necessity. When it was noticed that after a year on the waiting list in the public sector – when the waiting time was estimated at 28 months – my husband was suffering from increasing pain in his knee, which the pain was now affecting the other leg from stepping on it and putting all your weight on it, and there was still no scheduled date for an operation, we had to find an alternative. However, the only one that exists is to go see the “private”.
Of course, the fees are exorbitant. In our case, this intervention represented $23,500. You have to be part of the wealthy class, otherwise you have to take out a loan, dip into a mortgage line of credit (if you’re lucky enough to have one), call on one or more members of your family, or all of these steps to make ends meet.
All in all, we are very lucky to have been able to afford it. However, this has largely dented our meager savings, which worries us for the future, because we are not so young and that we have much less time left to replenish our woolen stockings.
So the question arises: if the Jordan decision sets the maximum time before the outcome of a trial in the Provincial Court at 18 months, should there also be a time limit for those who suffer?
Of course, some will say that the tax system provides a deduction for this type of expense, but it is largely insufficient. Couldn’t we then be entitled to a significant deduction in order to mitigate the financial loss? Better still, wouldn’t it be possible to reimburse the price that such an intervention in the public sector is worth in order to somewhat balance this enormous and unexpected expense?
Who can answer these questions? My spouse who underwent this operation is not the only one to live with this type of problem. I believe that solutions must be imagined and implemented very quickly.