Manitobans who can afford to pay a pricey premium can bypass wait lists and see a specialist out-of-province within three weeks.
Calgary-based Acure Health Corp. is selling the first wait list insurance in Canada that gives patients who land on a wait list for more than 45 days a chance to see a specialist or have treatment elsewhere in Canada or the U.S. in 21 days or less.
But health officials and critics allege the company is simply trying to profit off patient anxiety shrouding wait times and introduce two-tier medicine when it isn't warranted.
"I think these are people who are preying on people's concerns," said Alan Katz, a researcher with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.
"The reality is wait lists are coming down."
People pay an average of $75 a month for the insurance and are covered for diagnostic tests like MRIs and CT scans to bypass heart surgery and hip and knee replacements.
The insurance covers all consultations, diagnostics, surgery and travel. However, people who have had pre-existing conditions in the last two years - like patients who have had knee surgery - would not have their coverage kick in for 24 months.
The private insurance has been available for about 15 months for group packages in Calgary, but the company has just recently started to promote it as a way individuals and families can avoid languishing on wait lists for months - sometimes years, it claims - for non-life threatening medical conditions.
So far, less than a dozen Manitobans have purchased insurance to jump the queue. It is also available in B.C., Ontario, and Saskatchewan through licensed insurance brokers.
"I was just upset that the system has tried to restrict people to the point that people are dying," Jim Viccars, president of Acure, said during a phone interview from Calgary Tuesday.
"(The) system is supposed to be providing people with timely access to medical services."
But Katz maintains that Manitobans should think twice before buying into the idea.
Katz said anyone with urgent medical conditions can see a doctor right away, and that for most people, coverage is probably unnecessary. He also said shuffling patients between provinces is a dangerous idea, since people paying for quick treatment could increase the bottleneck of people on the wait list.
"I would be very concerned at some of the small print in that kind of arrangement," Katz said. "Some surgeries in the U.S. can cost upwards of $30,000. Are they going to be paying for that for $75 a month?"
Health Minister Theresa Oswald said she's more concerned with reducing wait times and ensuring people receive timely medical care based on their need -- not the size of their wallet.
Oswald said Manitoba has made significant progress reducing wait times, including for cardiac surgery and radiation therapy. The province is using some of the $30 million its received from the federal wait-time reduction funds to set a four-week benchmark wait time for radiation therapy.
Recently, Manitoba also committed to reducing the amount of time patients wait for a referral to a specialist.
While Oswald was uncertain about the legality surrounding wait list insurance, she said bypassing wait-times is not a new idea, noting Manitobans who can afford it have driven to the Mayo Clinic in the U.S. for years.
"I am fully aware that many are worried about their health care and waiting to see a specialist is an anxiety," Oswald said Tuesday.
"I can tell you that our energies are expended every single day into making this (wait list) conversation irrelevant."
Viccars said the insurance is completely legal and is based on Australian and European models of health care that recognize the limitations of a public system.
He said the company has arrangements with doctors in 75 private clinics in Canada and 3,500 in the U.S. and that patients can choose their surgeon from an approved list.
Viccars also said doubts whether there is any political leadership in Canada to reduce wait times and that at some point, all Canadians will find themselves on a wait list.
"There simply isn't enough money or capacity to bring wait-times down," he said.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
What is wait list insurance?
People pay a monthly insurance premium to bypass lengthy wait lists for things like orthopedic surgery or diagnostic MRIs.
How does it work?
Coverage will kick in if you are waiting more than 45 days (about 6.5 weeks) for a diagnostic procedure or surgery recommended by a physician. These must be treatments that are usually covered by Manitoba Health.
How much does it cost?
The average cost for basic coverage is $75 per month and $109 per month for extra coverage.
What procedures are covered?
More than 135 conditions and 500 treatments and procedures, including MRI and CT scans, colonoscopy, heart bypass, angiography, heart valve repair, prostate surgery, slipped disc, and hernia surgery.
Average median wait times in Manitoba as of April 2008:
-Source: Manitoba Health Wait Times
MRI scan: 9 weeks
CT scan: 5 weeks
Urgent heart surgery: one day
Elective heart surgery : 48 days
Ultrasound: 12 weeks
Radiation therapy: 1 week
Cataract eye surgery: 10 weeks
Knee and hip replacement/revision: 19 weeks
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