Health care in Alberta is one of the most expensive in the country, and it's getting worse by the day. In this episode, we talk about what we need to do to improve the situation, and why we need it.
00:00:23.360And once you get to the specialist who's, you know, taking appointments for six months out, and please don't do this, ladies and gentlemen.
00:00:31.920I know there are some of you who will be saying, six months, what are you talking about?
00:00:42.160But, you know, once you get to the specialist, well, then you're looking at another lengthy period of time.
00:00:49.640And so there should be, I noticed that there are other countries where this is not the case.
00:00:55.400And they're not all sort of the socialist utopias that you might expect.
00:01:01.160Some of them are pretty hard-nosed countries where they found a way to get it done.
00:01:07.660And that's what we need to do in Alberta is to find a way to get it done.
00:01:13.480Yeah, and it's certainly the, it's the province's biggest expense.
00:01:17.480And we're not getting, we're not getting any better outcomes than other jurisdictions.
00:01:23.060I know Corey's talked about it on his show that, you know, you look over, there are other ways of doing it that seem to produce better outcomes.
00:01:32.420And, you know, the one that struck me as the most likely to be effective was the one that Ralph Klein, God rest his soul, Ralph Klein did a lot of good things, but he brought in Bill 11.
00:01:44.760Yeah, you know, and that meant that you couldn't start a private hospital in Alberta.
00:01:51.560We should have opened the gates to private health care, brought them in, and then had a bidding war to get the, to get the procedures done that needed to be done.
00:02:04.380You know, I was traveling some years ago, ended up in Jordan of all places, and driving down the street, I couldn't help noticing the hospital, hospital, clinic, clinic.
00:02:14.840That little country has built itself up, an enviable reputation as the place to go to get treated quickly.
00:02:24.400Jordan, you wouldn't think so, would you?
00:02:26.360But there it was, and they drew their trade from all over the Middle East and Europe, and they've done exactly what we should have done in Alberta.
00:02:35.240They have attracted the medical profession to come and set up right there.
00:02:46.460Right, I mean, you're just across the border, and you see nothing but dental clinics, and you see nothing but Canadians lined up in front of them.
00:02:52.660Well, that's right, and it's not that our dental service is so bad.
00:02:56.500I mean, you make an appointment, you go in, you get done, but it's just that it costs you three times what it costs you, and you can have a holiday for what you save on the trip to Mexico, so they tell me.
00:03:06.060One other thing, though, Dave, sorry, what were you going to say?
00:03:08.220I was just going to say, we've started the process, but it's like drip, drip, drip.
00:03:12.720Where, okay, now you can go to a private clinic and get your eyes done or your knees done or your hips done, and it all gets billed back to Alberta Healthcare Services, and in theory, that should shorten the wait list for everybody else.
00:03:27.180It doesn't seem to have cut it tremendously, but you're right.
00:03:30.700If we'd have done what, you know, instead of Bill 11, done the opposite and attracted private hospitals, we would have been in a lot better position than we are now.