Thin edge of a very fat wedge

On the heels of Sicko hitting the screens of North America, The Globe and Mail reports this morning that the Canadian Medical Association has forwarded a proposal that Canada should have a two-tiered health system in which doctors can practice in both the private and public systems.

To his eternal credit, Prime Minister Harper has replied that this paradigm would provide doctors with an incentive to stream their patients into the for-profit side of the system.

Good for the Prime Minister. What we need to concentrate on is finding ways and means to improve a system that guarantees us all the same access to health and care we're due as human beings, regardless of how well fate and circumstance have favoured or failed us. Returning to a system of greedy doctors and pampered rich patients is not the way for a modern, democratic, civilized nation. Who will this system benefit? First and foremost, the health insurance industry. They will take the cream and decide who gets the milk. The doctors will benefit too, though they'll have to be scrappy, and the lawyers they inevitably have to employ to sue for recompense will be pleased. Less so the rich, who assume they'll get better and instant access, but forget that this will be at the behest of HMOs, who will be selfish and stingy and reject their claims whenever they're legally able. Worst of all will be those who can't afford to promote themselves to the for-profit side, as the inclination in society will be, over time, to starve that system since it only serves the poorest and meekest.

No way. Stick to your guns, Stephen. You've made the right call.