Medical Tourism in BC

[oryxandcake]

A couple of months ago the Vancouver Sun had two articles written about the proposed Medical Tourism by Kevin Falcon to increase health care revenue by utilizing OR downtime on evenings and weekends. Non Canadians would pay for surgeries more expensive in their home countries by accessing care in BC. One of the writers was Dr Brian Day - past CMA president, co-owner of a private surgical centre who is currently suing the BC gov't in an attempt to push for a private-public health c are system.

Two major problems exist for this plan: 1) Canadians would still be waitlisted for care while foreigners pay for beds

2) They would still be short staffed - although, one interviewee said all they would need to do is "increase funding"

Additionally, BC could lose money by over pricing or underpricing the surgeries as it would still be a competitive market.

This attempt at building revenue appears to be another band aid attempt to fix the system. Yes the health care system is expensive and waitlists are long. But this will not fix the issue. What this would do, however, is open up BC to more privatized health care. Which seems to be on the agenda of Kevin Falcon - looking at his history so far as Health Minister.

The Tyee â€" Bring on Medical Tourism, Says Private Provider

Plan to sell health care to foreigners problematic

Why B.C. should become a destination for medical tourism