If they only could:
* About 71 percent said they would likely or definitely speak to a neighbor who is a secretary at an MRI clinic if it meant getting moved up a list instead of waiting three months* Some 30 percent would give their surgeon tickets to basketball and hockey games if it meant getting hip replacement surgery faster.
* Just over 50 percent were willing to pay a $20 “emergency fee” to see a dermatologist about an unattractive but apparently harmless rash instead of waiting three months.
* Another 56 percent said they would likely or definitely let a doctor who owes them a favor move them up a waiting list for cataract surgery.
Related posts:
- Roving dermatologists
- Newsflash: Our fat society leads to a jump in gastric bypass surgeries
- Canadians continue to be offended by Michael Moore
- Rats in the OR
- Waiting a year for skull surgery
- Patients still want choice: PPOs are eclipsing HMOs
- Drug seeking in the ER
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{ 1 comment }
Come on Kevin, you must be familiar with proliferating border businesses that allow better access to Canadians that can pay.
There is a facility in Champlain New York that caters to Canadians that jump the queue. It’s not doing as well since the mid-90’s when a radiology facility opened in the Outremont district of Montreal catering to cash-paying patients who don’t want to wait. It has been slowly expanding and offering more and more services.
Given the US dollar flushing down the toilet, strategic advantages are available at US hospitals that offer reasonable pricing structure.
Canadian provinces are slowly adopting two-tier systems; one for access at a price and the rest, basic services with a wait.
Nothing wrong with tiers as long as people don’t die in the street because they can’t pay and taxes remain reasonable overall.
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