Like several commentators on the political scene, Mario Dumont in his column “The private sector has taken its place in health: let’s stop the hypocrisy», underlined the proposal I made last week to establish a price scale to cap the excessive prices of care offered in private clinics.
If my proposal is causing so much discussion, it is because the CAQ has allowed the public health system to deteriorate to the point where more and more people must turn to the private sector to receive the care they need.
It is the least we can do to protect patients from private abuse.
Free
Where Mr. Dumont and I will probably never agree is on the place of private sector health care. Our position has always been clear: we firmly defend a public system where care is accessible to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. A united government would put an end to the development of the private sector and repatriate care services to public clinics and CLSCs.
Free health care is not a radical proposal, it is the very basis of the Quebec model.
While waiting to put an end to private health care for good with a supportive government, it is my job to ensure that Quebecers are not taken advantage of in private clinics.
Ceiling
The request that I made to the Minister of Health to cap private prices is necessary to protect users of a system weakened by liberal austerity and the upcoming mixing of CAQ structures. The failure of the old parties is forcing more and more Quebecers to turn to the private sector, due to lack of timely access to care in the public sector.
However, we are not yet in power and we must act now in the face of the healthy Wild West. Currently, for the same service, citizens can pay $100, $200, $400 from one private clinic to another. Private healthcare is part of the problem, not the solution.
However, when we face an urgent problem, we need an immediate solution.
Vincent Marissal, Health manager, Québec solidaire