The high cost of Quebec health care (when you can see a doctor)...

It's been four years since my doctor retired. I've written before about my fruitless search to find a family doctor or to access a clinic in this area of Quebec, but this topic is one that affects so many seniors, I think it deserves attention yet again.

I was prompted to think about this by an article in the December Reader's Digest. Quebec writer Luc Bouchard compared his experience going through the public system (a walk-in clinic which refuses to examine him because his situation is not considered an ÔemergencyÕ), a private doctor who charges $295, and a private clinic where the cost was $1250, but tests resulted in life-saving surgery.

I don't know of any private clinics in West Quebec, nor do I know anyone who could afford these charges. But I am paying $200 for an annual check-up with a private doctor, with an additional $50 each time I need to see him throughout the year.

I had no choice. In early 2006 I began looking for a new doctor, and phoned the CLSC for help. I was told my name would be put on a waiting list, and given priority because of my age and the fact that I take five prescription medicines for five different medical problems.

They never called me back, although I continued to phone every few months to make sure I was still on the priority list.

The Health Council of Canada urges us to suggest how to make health care better. Their website (www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/) contains success stories from various locations, but Quebec's situation is not represented. No wonder. The province claims to be working hard to improve health care, but we see little progress here.

I was jealous of those of you in Aylmer when a clinic opened there. But many of the rest of us don't live close enough to access that.

I've started to prepare my tax totals for 2009. Between the cost of doctor visits, things he prescribed that are not covered by the province (therapeutic massage, acupuncture, insoles, a humidifier, pneumonia vaccine, etc.), his charge for filling out the forms required to keep my driver's license, optometrist, and dental (my supplemental insurer dropped me because of Quebec's requirements), the total is shocking.

Add to that the difference between the actual cost of prescriptions and how much Quebec pays, the annual charge for provincial "medical insurance" and the "health services fund", and the annual cost for most seniors can eat up a large percentage of their OAS payments.

My friends in Ontario tell me that their co-pay for prescriptions there is much lower than ours. And other provinces pay for things like ortho-massage and acupuncture.

We all probably know seniors who need dental care, new eyeglasses, or orthotics they can't afford. Some of these people can't afford the upfront costs in order to deduct some of these medical expenses from their taxes, and many never see a doctor from one year to the other because of short hours and long waits at walk-in clinics.

How many emergency visits and premature deaths could be avoided if our health care system lived up to its promise?

E-mail Bobbi at BFG@SimonTeakettle.com, and visit her website: www.SimonTeakettle.com

---

Copyright © 2010 Barbara Florio Graham/Log Cabin Chronicles/01.10