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She didn't have to go to the US for the MRI; implication was the clinic was in Canada. Private care isn't illegal or anything there.

People from the US go abroad for care all the time.




Some forms of getting private care are indeed illegal:

https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/private-two-tier-healthcare...


From the article

>“In Canada, the absence of a private system is not due to the illegality of private health care per se,” reads a 2001 analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Rather, the lack of a flourishing private sector in Canada is most likely attributable to prohibitions on subsidization of private practice from the public plan.”

Seems fair to me.


Things like paying for a non-public health scan are indeed facing legal crackdowns, though:

https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Provincial/...

So someone in this position now would have fewer options besides waiting their turn in the queue.


> Extra billing is defined as additional fees charged by a physician or a clinic for a publicly-funded health procedure that is medically necessary, or when a patient pays out of their own pocket for such a procedure in a private facility

This is about extra billing, not per se about MRI. So still seems fair to me.


So it's fair that you cannot get an MRI done paying for it?

In any case, that shows that getting private care may not be an option in Canada.


> So it's fair that you cannot get an MRI done paying for it?

Yup, while the system is being subsidized with public money you can't just setup something competing while taking advantage of the public system too.


Sorry, you are correct. Nevermind.




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