3dGameMan
06-09-2005, 07:18 AM
Canadian Supreme Court ruling could change health care: ~source (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1118315110253_28/?hub=TopStories)
http://www.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20050609/160_cp_SCOC_judges_050609.jpg
CTV.ca News Staff
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to issue a ruling this morning that could have significant implications for the country's medicare system.
A Quebec doctor and a patient are fighting for the right to pay privately for surgery, arguing that their rights are violated by long waiting lists under the current medicare system.
They want the court to overturn portions of the Quebec Health Insurance Act and Quebec Hospital Insurance Act that prohibit payments for medically necessary services. Other provinces have similar laws.
George Zeliotis spent more than a year in pain, waiting for a hip replacement in 1997. He finally got a new hip but says he should have had the right to pay earlier for the surgery himself, even though it's illegal to pay for health services covered by medicare.
He brought his fight to the Supreme Court along with Dr. Jacques Chaoulli, a Quebec physician who says he's fed up with the current system.
They argue that spending months waiting for surgery amounts to a violation of their constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of the person.
They say that patients should have a right to pay for services from private doctors and that doing so would pose no threat to the public health-care system.
Dr. Chaoulli and Zeliotis lost their legal battle in the lower courts in Quebec.
The Quebec Superior Court ruled that the provincial law's intention was to prevent discrimination based on ability to pay and that the collective rights to a universal, publicly funded system are more important than individual rights.
The Quebec Court of Appeal agreed and dismissed Chaoulli and Zeliotis' challenge...
http://www.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20050609/160_cp_SCOC_judges_050609.jpg
CTV.ca News Staff
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to issue a ruling this morning that could have significant implications for the country's medicare system.
A Quebec doctor and a patient are fighting for the right to pay privately for surgery, arguing that their rights are violated by long waiting lists under the current medicare system.
They want the court to overturn portions of the Quebec Health Insurance Act and Quebec Hospital Insurance Act that prohibit payments for medically necessary services. Other provinces have similar laws.
George Zeliotis spent more than a year in pain, waiting for a hip replacement in 1997. He finally got a new hip but says he should have had the right to pay earlier for the surgery himself, even though it's illegal to pay for health services covered by medicare.
He brought his fight to the Supreme Court along with Dr. Jacques Chaoulli, a Quebec physician who says he's fed up with the current system.
They argue that spending months waiting for surgery amounts to a violation of their constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of the person.
They say that patients should have a right to pay for services from private doctors and that doing so would pose no threat to the public health-care system.
Dr. Chaoulli and Zeliotis lost their legal battle in the lower courts in Quebec.
The Quebec Superior Court ruled that the provincial law's intention was to prevent discrimination based on ability to pay and that the collective rights to a universal, publicly funded system are more important than individual rights.
The Quebec Court of Appeal agreed and dismissed Chaoulli and Zeliotis' challenge...