Letter to editor: Re: Public sector unions should push for more private involvement

Vancouver Sun

Re: Public sector unions should push for more private involvement, Nov. 17

Let's be clear about what privatized health care is about. It has nothing to do with universal access. It is a method of generating enormous profits from your illness or injury -- no more, no less. Dr. Brian Day, author of the Issues & Ideas piece, wants to divert attention from the real issue on his mind: profit.

Day collects fees from our government and charges more on top. He adds a profit margin to an already expensive fee schedule that we pay for and declares that the system needs reforming. . . in his favour.

He and his for-profit colleagues would distract us from the increased taxes they cost you and me with misleading references to other systems and funding methods. The reality is that his system costs us more and will reduce access to health care and siphon off health professionals already in short supply. Let's eliminate this expensive parallel for-profit system so we'll finally be able to afford to fund a sustainable not-for-profit universal health care system.

Reid Johnson, President
Health Sciences Association of B.C., Vancouver