It was years and years ago that doctors started charging a $5.00 user fee for every visit. There were so many complaints that it ended and our own doctor of the time stated that it was simply not worth the time and effort.
So the whining got to be too much? Jut wait till the gov'ts spend 3/4 of their budgets on healthcare. Then we'll hear whining.
How does your eye doctor get to charge? That's pretty easy. The government no longer pays any part of your visit to your eye doctor until you are age 65+ just like they no longer pay for a visit to Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, Podiatrists, and Naturopaths. Without a "user" fee, these services would be gone completely. It's not actually a user fee, it's just a fee. I believe my last eye exam was $95.00. (or 85).
So because our MDs are paid for by gov't means everything's all peachy keen. I see. I also see the docs around here working a lot more than 40 hours a week, the assembly line visits, waits, crappy equipment (one nurse was telling me she dropped a clamp on the floor and it broke, hospitals are reusing single-use equipment, etc.), and so on is just fine with you. I see.
Stores might not be dead where you are but they are dying here. I'm talking about larger stores like grocery stores the size of Save On More/ Costco etc. Our store has been slow for months with Christmas being the exception. I had a customer yesterday who said he had just come from Costco and it was dead in there too. Now today is Friday and all stores will pick up for the day but the store I work at was "Friday" busy everyday. The addition of 6 self-serve tills has driven customers away in droves. Along with the complaints we get regarding our own we also hear about the ones they don't like at Canadian Tire and at Home Depot. The store was so busy a couple of weeks ago and since we have been slow, not enough cashiers were on duty to cover all the tills. It appears this is done in order to force people to use the self scans where six tills are watched over by one cashier. Out of frustration, people started throwing things at the poor cashier that was overseeing self scan purchases. The self scans and our large open doors are like an invitation to steal all you can and people do. We have a wider opening than Costco does for people entering and leaving the store and no one watches those doors for carts and carts full of groceries leaving the store. Naturally, profits are down. It's a wonderful way of switching the store to a non-union store.
Sounds like a lot of bad management to me. General Motors management as applicable to the mega grocers.
Dentists are not covered by any govenment plan and do not have a user fee either. They just have a fee. If you are lucky enough to be on a dental plan you get a break but if you are not - you pay the full fee. Dentists have never been on any government health plan.
And as such, dentists are doing fine.
Doctors do charge about $20.00 per visit - to the government and that's why we pay a monthly fee for health care. You really should find out more about how your health care is funded (or not).
That's all doctors get is $20 from the gov't per visit? No wonder there's a shortage around here.
I've lived in many towns and cities in this province and had my medical file transferred everytime. The only time I paid was for the one I picked up myself but upon phoning to ask them to transfer my file, I was informed of the fee (less than a year ago) and I had to pay that fee even though I picked the file up myself. I inquired about it a few years ago when a Vernon doctor sent me a bill for transferring my file to this city. I was informed at the time that while the charge (ability to charge) has always been there, most doctors choose not to use it. Time changes all things.
It wouldn't bother me to pay a transfer charge for my file. It wouldn't bother me to pay for long distance calls my doc makes on my behalf. I keep myself pretty healthy. Some toad that wants to eat Big Macs, KFC, etc. paying more for his healthcare than me paying for mine doesn't bother me in the least. I've got nothing against being my brother's keeper but when I am partially paying for his healthcare, I would hope the SOB at least takes care of himself. IOW, I don't like subsidising other people's smoking, drinking, greasy fried chicken habits.
