ANALYSIS: The Growing ‘Loopholes’ Allowing Private Care in Canada’s Staunchly Universal System

Canada’s restrictions on private health care are labyrinthine and include many loopholes. And as medical practice evolves, the lag time for laws to catch up means more private health care is permitted in Canada than many may realize. For example, nurse practitioners have been permitted to provide more services than ever before due to a health worker shortage, and they aren’t subject to the private care regulations written only for doctors. With longer wait times and other problems in the public system, many Canadians are making use of the loopholes that allow them to use private clinics. “We’re at the point where a two-tier health system easily and clearly exists,” Katherine Fierlbeck, a health policy expert at Dalhousie University, told The Epoch Times....