These measures prevent physicians from topping up their public sector incomes with private fees. You can practice privately but you can't get paid by the public health care system. Flood and doctoral student Tom Archibald surveyed the health insurance legislation of all the provinces in Canada. They found that there is a myriad of regulations that have one objective - to prevent the public sector from subsidizing the private sector, as opposed to rendering privately funded practice illegal. However, there has not been a surge in private health care in these three provinces because of restrictions on physicians being able to work in both the public and private sectors.
Flood says Canada is still a one-tiered system when providing physician and hospital care.
We have to rethink the scope of our public health care system. This study was published in the March issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal . Sue Toye is an assistant news services officer with the Department of Public Affairs.