Canada Values Health - Dialogue on Health Care -

Should users of the health care system receive a list of the services they receive and the cost?

2009-03-09 09:16:34

Should end users of the health care system receive a detailed list of the services they receive and the cost? Would this encourage wiser use of limited resources? Would it discourage some Canadians from accessing health care when they need it most?

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"Users of health services should receive detailed feedback on the costs that have been applied to their care. This practice would be a reality check for the patient and could reduce the amount of unreasonable charges and fraudulent billings submitted by health care professionals and organizations."

- A CanadaValueHealth.ca visitor

Your responses
Unnecessary Use of the Health Care System Bev Posted: 2009-06-21 12:25:33 Absolutely anybody visiting a doctor, hospital emergency room, etc should be provided with a copy of a statement showing exactly what is being billed to OHIP. If I go to the dentist, I receive a copy of what is being billed to my insurance company on my behalf, why isn't it the same when I visit a medical doctor. Right now, I have abosolutely no way of knowing what is being billed on my behalf? I agree we have one of the best health care systems in the world, but it is also being drastically abused!
Should Users Receive a List of Medical Costs Alice Posted: 2009-06-10 14:00:09 Most definitely! I was surprised how much some doctors got paid compared to others. What was most surprising was that one doctor who worked as a private doctor got paid far more than one of the specialists I had seen in the public system when he did so much less and his type of skill was less likely to result in danger to the patient or in lawsuits. Why? Are they trying to force doctors into the private system by having the government pay them better wages when a patient goes there? Will we eventually see a day whereby only the bad doctors are left in the public system and will be looked down upon by those in the private system? What will make doctors want to stay in the public system? You can't hold them down with guns to their heads. Seems we are headed toward private all the way and will soon have the terrible system the Americans have. What is it now? 50 million Americans who have no access to medical care?
Zero dollar invoices will help gwebster Posted: 2009-06-07 19:50:49 This may be a bit optimistic, but I really believe that showing health care consumers (aka patients) the true cost of the services they receive, with a bottom line that shows that the full cost has been covered by tax dollars, will help reduce the burden on the system, and make people appreciate the value of the taxes we pay. I also believe that the technology now exists to implement such a solution on a reasonable cost basis. I don't want to implement zero dollar invoices for the sake of doing it. I think there should be a clear return on this investment, i.e., costs reduced through more judicious use of the system that outweigh the cost of providing this information.
Buyer be AWARE...taxpayers are the buyers. NaturalNurture Posted: 2009-05-22 07:25:49 Most certainly we must see the INVOICES. When an American sees they are paying $4. for a q-tip and all manner of inflationary profligacy they think twice about a trip to the hospital or doctor. When we start thinking US (the taxpayer) instead of THEM (the Government...duh thats US TOO) as the payers of the medicare bills, things will change. May be good for the auto industry too..Doctors may start driving made in Canada cars.
Public Health care or on a system burno Posted: 2009-03-16 08:21:29 Because we are not seen as consumers of the health care system we are treated as imbeciles on a paid for system... I beleive if we are given a list of service and the costs attached it would awaken our senses as to the value of our health care system....
User Fees, not information reduces cost chasn Posted: 2009-03-12 12:21:54 Factual argument is not as effective as the USER FEE avoidance argument. Low Percentage User fees serve the double purpose of informing you of the cost and giving you personal reason to reduce same! There are safety nets for those unfortunate enough to require assistance. The rest of us need a little stick and carrot approach to ensure we minimize our and the health system costs; if you pay a user fee you will avoid the cost whenever possible. - HUMAN NATURE
Make people aware blynn Posted: 2009-03-12 11:34:12 Show people how much they cost! Also, user fees are an excellent incentive. Over 20 years ago, I remember the emergency room in my small town charging a $10 fee for walk-in's...it definitely helped speed up wait times. I am shocked when the few times I have been in the ER, seen people waiting when they should be in a medicentre! If there is not a value/ cost associated (and people never see what they cost the system), how do we expect perceptions to change. Why is it people have no trouble buying cigarettes, alcohol, junk food, but are upset if they have to contribute to health care?
Stop Sheltering the Public Al Posted: 2009-03-12 09:16:18 Yes! The public know there are healthcare problems, but that's all they know. Politicians and bureaucrats struggle with managing this crisis, but still avoid truly sharing the specifics with the public - just overarching generalities. The public can and will make decisions if they know what the real situation is. They want to understand! We all want to protect our public system for our children, and our children's children, so decision-makers need to stop being afraid to share this information with the public if they truly want to drive change and create real solutions. Until we create this awareness and subsequent culture/expectation shift, all we're going to do is keep plugging holes in the imminently bursting dam.
User Fee is good salee Posted: 2009-03-11 07:05:27 I support a user fee and monthly contribution made by every Ontarians. If an Ontarian uses the system less than 3 times a year, he gets a rebate at tax time.
User Fees Dona Wiegand Posted: 2009-02-27 12:36:04 Don't know if this will get to anyone that will listen but I'll try. Forward it if you need to please. Your site indicates that this information will be looked at, and summarized as to whether it is a good suggestion or not. I hope so. I am 72 years old and have seen the change over many years in our health system. As the Americans so aptly put it, "we cannot afford the FREE Canadian healthcare system". There is very little FREE anymore. May I list some of my concerns that hopefully will be taken seriously? 1: Many of our fellow Canadians have died waiting for surgery or treatment or transplants etc. IF we had a choice instead of waiting for the government to look after us we could save many lives. 2: I had a small business years ago and the system worked REALLY well. The employer paid ALL or a portion of the employee's healthcare, or none. BUT EVERY family paid into OHIP according to the size of his/her family. Then it changed to having the employers ONLY paying OHIP. This evidently did not work, as it soon went into a big deficit. 3: We are immigrating thousands of families a year into our health system from other countries. I have no problem with that. BUT when one person comes to Canada and then consequently brings 4-5 or more of his family to Canada, they ALL use the system. SOOOOO consequently a lot of money is going out and little coming back into the health system. Many countries in the world have no health system at all and a lot of the people from these countries feel they are very lucky to just go to the doctor for every little thing as the government will pay. EXACTLY. The government does pay. But I feel that some people take advantage of the so called FREE health care that Canada provides. The land of milk and honey so to speak. 4: We have more people using the system than we have money coming in. SIMPLE financial solution. EVERY person in Canada needs to contribute to the healthcare system (and not through taxes with loopholes etc.). If there is a family of 6, than the payment to the government is for a family of 6, on a monthly basis. OR: 5: A co-payment to EVERYONE who visits a doctor, hospital or clinic pay a percentage and the healthcare system pays the balance. That MIGHT keep many people from using the emergency at the hospitals where people are being treated in the halls, for NON-emergency visits, just because it is so called FREE. 6: A small amount for EVERY person, including ALL immigrants working or not, would pay accordingly by the month for the system and it wouldn't take long for it to come out of debt. 7: The financial people running the system need to look at the scale. Money coming in 00, money going out 0000. Any 3rd grader can figure out the math. Everybody pays a little in and we get the health system back to where it was years ago and we were ALL proud to say "Canada has a good healthcare system" NOT "I can't afford Canada's FREE healthcare". Makes sense to me. I'd be glad to share in that cost (not through my taxes as they seem to go where they don't belong, right directly paid to the healthcare division like it used to be). Somebody must look back to when it WAS working and take some hints from that. What went wrong, figure it out. Dona Wiegand