Most Canadians vote for private health care
Public opinion about health care made a rapid 180-degree turn in no time.
While some provinces are trying to solve problems in the Canadian health care system by turning to the private sector, more and more Canadians endorse the idea of private health care in addition to the public system.
A survey conducted earlier this year by Ipsos, a major research company, shows that 60 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed favor private medicine for those who can afford it.
Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, says that in all the 30 years he has studied public opinion in Canada, he has never seen such a dramatic change of heart.
According to Bricker, maintaining Canada's public health care system has until recently been a "cornerstone" of Canadian policy, and any mention of outsourcing health care to the private sector has been met with stiff resistance, even rejection. Canadians were afraid of switching to an Americanized system.
But given the results of the January survey, it's safe to say that 85 percent of Canadians now believe that the health care system needs to be fundamentally changed to meet the needs of the population. Attitudes toward moving health care to the private sector are changing rapidly.
"I haven't seen a doctor in over a decade," reads the most popular comment under the survey post. — But if that changes, I wish I had a specialist who could examine me and would know my medical history. For the same reason I pay my dentist, my ophthalmologist...why shouldn't I be able to pay my general practitioner? Especially since the public system has completely failed me."
