A few weeks ago I developed a terrible sore throat and excruciating pain in my ears. I went to the walk-in clinic and received excellent service from the nurses and physician. The doctor identified my ailment as being a sinus infection and then asked me the dreaded question “do you have a drug plan?” Being one of the many who work on contract, part-time or other forms of unstable employment, my answer was of course “no”. I was then left with the decision: do I buy the prescribed antibiotics or try to tough it out with endurance and a bit of the considerably-cheaper-than-antibiotics generic ibuprofen. Recently recovering from being a student with a very limited budget, and being used to going without prescription drugs, dental coverage and other ‘luxuries’, I opted for the latter.
It was the wrong choice.
A few days later, the infection had gotten so bad that it was unbearable. Although I resigned myself to spend the money and actually get the medication, I was still in such bad shape that I was driven to bed-rest for two days, with a couple additional days of normal recovery afterwards. It was terrible and all could have been prevented if I would have purchased the antibiotics in the first place.
Now the thing is, at this point I could actually afford the necessary drugs, but I just didn’t. Unfortunately for many in our province and across our country, that is not the case. Instead of being an annoying expense, the cost is an impossibility and they are forced to go without; or they must make the choice between paying for the medication or for groceries or the hydro bill.
Why are things like prescription drugs not covered by OHIP? What about dental? Why did Ontario cut funding for both vision and chiropractic care in 2004?[1] Why is effective physiotherapy limited by age? All of these services, although vital to one’s health, have been treated as optional. They are only available if one has the money to pay for them. That is NOT universal healthcare.
We may have great doctors, that can diagnose any ailment, but without people being able to access the medication required to treat that ailment, the diagnosis becomes irrelevant. The service is only half complete. When we ignore things like dental, physiotherapy, chiropractic care and vision we resort to treating only half of one’s body. Why are we satisfied with this? You don’t buy a car, then not fill it with gas. You’d get an ‘F’ in school if you only completed half of a report. You’d look pretty silly if you went walking around wearing only one shoe. We wouldn’t settle for any of these things; why do we settle for half-health care?
Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for the health care that we do have in Canada. I recognize that we are fortunate to have high-quality care accessible to all Canadian residents, unlike many countries around the world, even including our wealthy neighbour to the South. However, I think we should still be seriously looking at the holes in the system and actively trying to reach the potential level of excellent and truly universal health care that I know we can achieve if we are willing to invest in it. Reducing the cost of health care should start here.
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