Poll: Canadians Want Reimbursement for Surgery Abroad

CALGARY, AB: Think tank SecondStreet.org released a new poll today that shows Canadians are overwhelmingly in favour (74%) of provincial governments reimbursing patients for their surgical bills in other countries.

Patients in the European Union currently enjoy this option through what is known as the Cross Border Directive. Reimbursements cover up to the same amount a patient’s home government would have spent to provide the surgery locally. This tool is one way EU patients can avoid long waiting lists. 

“Surgical wait times are off the charts right across Canada,” said SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig. “Reimbursing patients for their surgical bills abroad is onee solution that could immediately help cut waitlists. Just like it is in the European Union, this policy could be voluntary so that no one is forced to travel for treatment. However, those that do decide to travel not only receive faster care, they’re one less person on the government’s waiting list. ”

Leger conducted the poll for SecondStreet.org between October 20-22, 2023. Highlights from the research include:

  • Canadians overwhelmingly support the idea of their provincial government copying the EU policy (74 per cent agree vs 10 per cent opposed). Support was high across Canada, all age groups, all income levels and both men and women.
  • Support was also high for trying the policy out in a limited pilot program before expanding it (73 per cent approve vs 13 per cent opposed).
  • Canadians were less enthusiastic about the idea of the governments offering reimbursement rates that are lower than what the government would pay for surgery locally (43 per cent approve vs 35 per cent disapprove).

These numbers are up slightly from when SecondStreet.org polled Canadians about the same policy in October 2022.

“Public opinion is clear. If the government-run health care system can’t provide surgery in a timely manner, then Canadians expect governments to compensate them for care outside the country or in other provinces,” added Craig. “This approach could especially help lower-income Canadians who currently do not have the resources to pay for surgery abroad. Fortunately, governments could immediately implement this European Union policy without much trouble.”

To see the full poll results and analysis — click here.

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Prevention – reduce demand in the first place

If Canadians lived healthier lives, we could reduce demand for emergency services, orthopaedic surgeries, primary care and more. 

For instance, if you visit the Canadian Cancer Society’s website, you’ll read that “about four in ten” cancer cases are preventable. The Heart and Stroke Foundation notes that “almost 80 percent of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented through healthy behaviours.” A similar number of Diabetes cases are also preventable. 

Many joint replacements and visits to ERs and walk-in clinics could also be avoided through healthy living. 

To be sure, not all health problems can be avoided through healthy living – everyday the system treats Canadians with genetic conditions, helps those injured in unavoidable accidents and more.  

But there is an opportunity to reduce pressure on the health care system through Canadians shifting to healthier lifestyles – better diets, more exercise, etc. 

To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see this column. 

Partner with non-profits and for-profit clinics

European countries will partner with anyone who can help patients. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s a non-profit, a government entity or a private clinic. What matters is that patients receive quality treatment, in a timely manner and for a competitive price.  

In Canada, governments often delivery services using government-run hospitals instead of seeing if non-profit or private clinics could deliver the services more effectively. 

When governments have partnered with non-profit and private clinics, the results have often been quite good – Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia are just a few examples of where partnerships have worked well. 

Canada should pursue more of these partnerships to reduce wait times and increase the volume of services provided to patients.  

To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see the links above. 

Make cross border care more accessible

In Canada, citizens pay high taxes each year and we’re promised universal health care services in return. The problem is, wait times are often extremely long in our health system – sometimes patients have to wait years to see a specialist or receive surgery. 

If patients don’t want to wait long periods, they often have to reach into their own pocket and pay for treatment outside the province or country. 

Throughout the European Union, we also find universal health care systems. But a key difference is that EU patients have the right to go to other EU countries, pay for surgery and then be reimbursed by their home government. Reimbursements cover up to what the patient’s home government would have spent to provide the treatment locally. 

If Canada copied this approach, a patient waiting a year to get their hip operation could instead receive treatment next week in one of thousands of surgical clinics throughout the developed world. 

Governments benefit too as the patient is now back on their feet and avoiding complications that sometimes come with long wait times – meaning the government doesn’t have to treat those complications on top of the initial health problem. 

To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or this shorter video. 

Legalize access to non-government providers

Canada is the only country in the world that puts up barriers, or outright bans patients from paying for health services locally. 

For instance, a patient in Toronto cannot pay for a hip operation at a private clinic in Toronto. Their only option is to wait for the government to eventually provide treatment or leave the province and pay elsewhere. 

Countries with better-performing universal health care systems do not have such bans. They allow patients a choice – use the public system or pay privately for treatment. Sweden, France, Australia and more – they all allow choice. 

Why? One reason is that allowing choice means some patients will decide to pay privately. This takes pressure off the public system. For instance, in Sweden, 87% of patients use the public system, but 13% purchase private health insurance. 

Ultimately, more choice improves access for patients. 

To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or watch this short clip on this topic. 

Shift to funding services for patients, not bureaucracies

In Canada, most hospitals receive a cheque from the government each year and are then asked to do their best to help patients. This approach is known as “block funding”. 

Under this model, a patient walking in the door represents a drain on the hospital’s budget. Over the course of a year, hospital administrators have to make sure the budget stretches out so services are rationed. This is why you might have to wait until next year or the year after for a hip operation, knee operation, etc. 

In better-performing universal health systems, they take the opposite approach – hospitals receive money from the government each time they help a patient. If a hospital completes a knee operation, it might receive, say, $10,000. If it completes a knee operation on another patient, it receives another $10,000. 

This model incentivizes hospitals to help more patients – to help more patients with knee operations, cataract surgery, etc. This approach also incentivizes hospitals to spend money on expenses that help patients (e.g. more doctors, nurses, equipment, etc.) rather than using the money on expenses that don’t help patients (e.g. more admin staff). 

To learn more about this policy option, please watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see this post by MEI.