Every comment I have received on this topic has confirmed my observations and supported my critique. A number of them added to my list of issues with both the Medical Services Plan (MSP) specifically and the medical system generally. While I am not likely to make a great deal of headway in terms of reforming this sacred cow, I do intend to try and lobby for some changes: particularly in those areas that have impacted me personally and those that I see as egregious abuse of resources.
One relatively minor one that jumps out at me every month is the bill MSP mails me. Most invoices I receive on a regular basis have an option (usually offered with inducement) to convert to electronic billing - and correspondingly, my bank offers me the option of automatic payment, which in the case of MSP has been set up. On an annual basis, if just a portion of MSP subscribers converted and saved the postage, printing, etc., the savings would be significant.
A very common issue is the requirement that patients must return to their physician for routine prescription refills. One friend commented that she has been on the same thyroid medication for 32 years, and although she is able to schedule blood tests herself, she is obliged to visit her clinic for prescription refills - for which the clinic obviously invoices MSP. The same person reports that her clinic only allows one issue to be dealt with per visit, so if she needs a skin rash looked at it requires another appointment rather than dealing with it on her prescription refill visit. I can only quote her comment: "how stupid is that?"
On a personal basis, having just had the shingles inoculation, at a cost of $200 each for myself and my wife, after saving MSP the cost of several visits to the doctor, I have to ask why I am obliged to pay for this, when smallpox, MMR, and other vaccinations for children are fully covered? Is this not a clear case of age discrimination? I haven't reached that particular milestone, but I understand that the physical which is required for a driver's licence renewal (annually?) for drivers over 80 is also not covered. I presume this is principally because 80-year-olds are not aggressive enough to seek parity with younger folk and have no organized advocacy working effectively on their behalf. British Columbia does, in fact, have a "Seniors Advocate" with a supporting bureaucracy, but like every branch of government, this one has its own agenda and has show absolutely no interest in this issue.
Another particularly galling issue for me is the propagation of the myth of "free" medical services. This certainly works on a subconscious level with folk who see value only when a number is attached. I have to go back to the case of my late Father-in-law, when he was still mobile, and would think nothing of "dropping in" on his doctor because he happened to be in the neighborhood. The fact of the matter was that he was lonely, and any attention from a familiar face was welcome. In any event, I am convinced that had he been sent a copy of the doctor's billing to MSP, or had he been subject to even a nominal charge for a visit, the thought of casually dropping-in on his doctor would not even have occurred to him.
Meantime, I set up a paper trail to continue my quest.
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