One of the most serious legal challenges to Canada’s public health care system is wrapping up its first session in the British Columbia Supreme Court.

Dr Brian Day who operates his own surgical centre, the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver, began a legal challenge earlier this year against B.C.’s ban on the purchase of private insurance for medically necessary services that are already covered by the public system.

Dr Day argues that limiting private health care violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by limiting access to rapid health care in for-profit clinics, specifically section 7, the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. The case began in 2010 and has seen numerous delays before finally heading to the province’s Supreme Court

Alex Hemingway is the B.C public Finance Analyst for the non-partisan policy think-tank, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and has been following the case.

Alex Hemingway, Public Finance analyst for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. © CCPA

While Canada lauds itself on its universal public health care system, Mr Hemingway says private for-profit health care services have grown to nearly 30 percent.

Hemingway says one can see the problems with a private system simply by looking at the United States with its extremely high health care costs.

He says proponents of a dual private-public system often claim they don’t want an American-type system, rather something like a European system. However, Hemingway says most industrialized countries have a smaller share of private health spending than Canada, and have a broader scope of health services covered publicly.

Dr Brian Day, one of the country’s strongest advocates for private health-care options has challenged current laws limiting access to private health care. © Chuck Stoody-Canadian Press

He also says the private, for-profit sector is the single biggest source of waste and inefficiency in Canadian health care.

The concern is that with a two-tiered system, doctors would take themselves and other providers like nurses out of the public system creating reduced staff in the public system and then also cherry-pick wealthy clients with more easily dealt with health issues and leave the public health care system to deal with patients having more expensive complicated health care issues, thereby putting an added burden on the public system.

Dr Day and others argue the system gives the right for anyone who chooses to pay, access to faster and better health care services.

The Supreme Court will recess for the Christmas holidays and resume early in the new year. It is expected a decision may take months, after which it is likely either the government or Dr Day will appeal depending on the verdict.

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