An essential aspect of a properly functioning universal health-care system is the ability to provide patients with the care they need promptly. In other words, access to a waiting list is not access to health care.

That’s why Alberta’s new plan is such great news: it would allow patients who have been stuck on wait lists beyond medically recommended timelines to get publicly reimbursed for treatment in private clinics.

The idea is that such patients would be given vouchers to allow them to receive the care they need in a private facility, while having costs covered through public insurance.

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This type of measure already exists elsewhere in the world. In Sweden, for instance, a national guarantee of treatment was established in 1992. This system allows patients waiting beyond a certain threshold to access health-care services elsewhere in the country at........

© Calgary Herald