I just read this article about how the Saskatchewan provincial government plans to end the subsidy it provides to chiropractors. Of all the stupid decisions that the Saskatchewan goverment has made lately, this is the stupidest. I realise they have to cover their arses for the utterly irresponsible budget they passed last year that depended so heavily on one resource that even the people working in that industry thought it was irresponsible. I realise that “times are tough” and the guvviment has to, as a governing body, tighten our proverbial belt.
But listen.
Just like supporting and training midwives in the province will save millions of dollars in health care, making chiropractic care affordable prevents all kinds of patients from requiring more intensive care. Chiropractic care relieves pain, restores mobility, and improves posture.
If you’re lucky, your health plan will cover chiropractic. If you’re not lucky, you’ll now be either paying out of pocket for chiropractic care, or you’ll be waiting longer to see specialists and surgeons.
So. Bad move, SaskParty. Bad, bad move. I was tempted, you know, to think about voting for you. But where are our midwives? THREE YEARS before a licensed midwife will be practising in Regina? And now you take away chiropractic care? Bad move in an election year. Dummies.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/03/10/sk-chiropractors-1003.html
Smarty Pants said,
11 March 2010 at 11:02 am
I just can’t get all that enraged about an extra 20 bucks out of pocket.
It’s irritating to be sure, but hardly a crisis, IMHO.
Every Chiro patient in the province is going to stop seeing a Chriopractor over this, and swamp the Medical system? I doubt it very much.
cenobyte said,
11 March 2010 at 2:10 pm
Also, I didn’t say it was a CRISIS. I said it was a dumb move.
cenobyte said,
11 March 2010 at 12:22 pm
Smarty Pants, that isn’t the point.
First of all, it’s not a $20 rise in fees; it could be as much as a $40 rise in fees. That might not mean much to you, but if you’re getting treatments once a week, and you’re on a fixed income because you’re retired, or because you work in labour/trades/retail, that IS a lot.
Secondly, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Currently, but subsidising chiropractic care, the Provincial Government is *saving money* in primary health care. This has been proven in places like Ontario and BC where the governments cut provincial funding for chiropractic; they are now paying more for things like physiotherapists, surgeons, occupational therapists, etc., because the patients get that care “free” on referral. PLUS, since it takes so long to see a specialist, by the time those patients get *to* the specialist, their problems are exacerbated (not exasperated. The patients themselves might be exasperated…).
Chiropractic helps align and release tension and pain from every joint in the body, not just the back. So all those knee surgeries you’re waiting on…hips…shoulders…those waiting lists will get much, much longer.
No, I’m not saying every patient who goes to a chiropractor will now go to specialists. I’m saying that a *lot* of them will. Enough to make already too-long waiting lists for care even longer. AND it will end up costing more in the long run.
The point *is* that it’s a bad, shortsighted, and irresponsible decision, it’s the wrong decision, and it will end up hurting the SaskParty in the end. If they don’t self-implode before that.
Coyote said,
11 March 2010 at 7:19 pm
As a corollary to that, most European style health care systems actual focus on preventative medicine instead of curative. Quitting smoking aids are covered by the government, health club memberships are covered by some countries, massage, chiropractic, just about everything and anything you can think of that leads to better health and would prevent future health issues is covered. Strangely enough, no waiting times, and their overall expendature on health care is about 20% less per capita. Neat huh?
melistress said,
16 March 2010 at 11:34 am
Incidentally, Saskatchewan has blocked a certain type of Chiropractic treatment from being practiced here. This is a vital treatment which was the only treatment that kept a friend of mine from certain death. When all other medical treatments failed her, she had to go to Alberta (ugh) to get the treatment that finally gave her her life back.
This was a step forward that we needed and instead, the Saskatchewan government stepped backward.
I was considering voting for them too. Sigh…back to defacing Saskatchewan Party election posters.