| Alta government knew private-health law would be "high-risk venture" SYLVIA STROJEK EDMONTON (CP) - The Alberta government knew its plan to expand the role of private medical clinics would be a gamble and that it would face stiff public opposition, say documents released Friday. "Moving forward with these principles and eventually legislation ... should be viewed as a high-risk venture by government," says an internal summary of six focus groups conducted last October. "It should be undertaken only if there is strong support within government and determination to carry it forward to conclusion in the face of strong opposition." The newly released health-care papers outline the steps leading up to last spring's passage of Bill 11, which allows private facilities to perform some procedures requiring overnight stays. Premier Ralph Klein promised last April he would release his government's private health policy. Nine pages were not included Friday. The focus groups - two each in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge, Alta. - involved a total of only 65 people. But the message participants gave the government was loud and clear. "There was a very significant distrust of government's future plans and a significant fear that ... allowing private hospitals ... would be a first step to potentially damaging the public system," says the summary. Words like "hidden agenda" and "slippery slope" were often used by group participants. They also questioned why funding should be diverted to private clinics when public hospitals were already performing the same services. "We can talk about focus groups and their comments, but we should also talk about our actions," Health Minister Gary Mar said of the documents. He pointed to recent government announcements that include $112 million for new equipment, another $550 million added to general spending and 850 new post-secondary health-care training positions. Mar also said the government was willing to stand up to the challenges raised by the public. "People who do nothing never make a mistake," he said. "I'm not afraid to make mistakes as long as it helps overall in moving us forward in improving what is a good health-care system." But he made clear he doesn't think Bill 11 was a mistake, especially since it has generated "good discussion" across Canada. Liberal health critic Gary Dickson said the government's inability to articulate clearly how private clinics benefit Albertans made people hostile and suspicious right from the start. And he doesn't think the almost $2 million the government spent promoting the bill has taken away those initial fears. "My sense of it is many Albertans feel they've been bludgeoned into acceptance," he said. I don't think they've (government) been successful in persuading people that this is benign." Dickson said he believes that public distrust will percolate down to other issues the government chooses to tackle, such as the environment. "Once that genie's out of the bottle it's a whole lot more difficult to jam it back in." Mar was also asked why the documents almost always refer to private "hospitals" when Klein has been careful to avoid calling them that. "It became clear that Albertans were uncomfortable with that expression and that it did not clearly reflect what the government was trying to do either," Mar said. "We never intended to have private hospitals as such." But Christine Burdett of the Friends of Medicare lobby group said changing the name doesn't change the intent of the legislation. "You can call an apple an orange, but that doesn't make it a citrus fruit," she said. Burdett said it's undemocratic the way the government didn't listen to what people were saying. "The only logical thing to do with this was to not pass the legislation until there had been debate," she said. "There wasn't even any debate on most of their own amendments." One option mentioned in the government's papers was for an interim prohibition on private clinics while an extensive consultation and review was conducted, but there appears to be no further discussion of that option. Mar did not comment when asked about it Friday. - - - Some of the issues discussed by focus groups last fall on Alberta's private-health care legislation: Canada Health Act: Large majority did not believe Alberta government committed to upholding principles of the act. Concerned the act itself does not guarantee timely access to health services. Direct billing: Strongly supported private clinics not being allowed to charge Albertans directly. Wanted costs to be paid by publicly funded system. Regional health authorities: Modest support for their regulating private hospitals. Lack of trust due to confusion over what health authorities do. Future developments: Significant distrust of government's plans, fears of public system's erosion. Public versus private: Wary of diverting money to private system. Questioned why private operators would want to participate given restrictions in legislation. Status quo: All groups recognized it was not acceptable and change needed in health care. 17:13 07/22/2000 http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/000721/n072166.html |