If the WCB can do it, why not others?
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* Derryck H. Smith

If ever we need evidence of the failure of state-monopoly medicine, it is found in the emergence of special expedited care for injured workers.1 Workers' compensation board (WCB) insurance schemes are founded on a sound accounting principle: Is it worthwhile paying more to get the service now, or should the worker wait (and be compensated by the board) until the public system can deliver the care the worker needs? In many cases workers would remain disabled for life if they waited for the public system to respond.

However, this same accounting principle is not carried over into the health care system the rest of us have to live with. It is hypocritical for politicians to turn a blind eye to this practice. Why should injured workers be able to jump the queue while all other citizens are forbidden from using their disposable income to purchase expedited care?

The call to government must be clear. Either fund the system properly or allow citizens to buy medical care privately, much the same as injured workers are now having their surgery paid for privately. The presence of privately funded WCB schemes will ultimately be the litmus test of inappropriate levels of government funding for medicare in Canada.

## Reference

1.  1. LeBourdais E. Preferential treatment for WCB patients angers some MDs. CMAJ 1999;161(7):859.
    
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