A proposed law in Canada's Saskatchewan province would allow people to pay for their own CT scans, outside of the national health system.
The proposal is raising objections that it represents legalized line jumping in Canada's crowded healthcare system, according to an article from CBC News.
The law, backed by the government, would allow patients to buy their own CT scans as long as the private clinic offering the scan agrees to perform a second scan for someone on a public waitlist for the procedure. The proposal was tabled on Wednesday.
A similar law already allows patients in the province to pay for MRI scans. Critics call it a slippery slope to privatized healthcare, the article states.
Two facilities in Regina have been providing private-pay MRI scans since February. When the bill was enacted, more than 4,000 people were on waiting lists for MRI scans in the province, according to the article.
"This bill is very troubling," Danielle Chartier, health critic for the New Democratic Party, told CBC News on Thursday. "Private MRIs and CT scans allow queue jumping."
Health Minister Dustin Duncan said the bill is flexible so that other scans can be added, but there are no plans to do so. He also promised to make the proposal public before moving forward with the legislation. Before allowing the MRI law, the government surveyed stakeholders and sought public input, he said.
