Private Health: A Constitutional Challenge of Provincial Health Care

Original Air Date: Friday, August 03, 2012

Canada’s Supreme Court has already ruled, "Access to a waiting list is not access to health care." Now two Albertans are in court demanding the right to buy private insurance for essential health care. 

Richard Cross and Darcy Allen were unable to work and enjoy life through years of severe back pain. Both paid for surgery; Allen $77,000 and Cross $24,000.

The plaintiffs say the public should have the right to other care options. Defenders of public health say care in Alberta is decent and a two tiered public and private system would create other problems.
 
Joining us for this discussion is Tracey Bailey, Executive Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta; John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and is representing the two Alberta men who've launched this constitutional challenge.