Access to health care

The Ontario Physicians Poverty Working Group has released a controversial new study that is sparking a fair bit of interest.

In it, the doctors chronicle the poorer health of those with lower income, saying they have less access to the health care system. Canada's universal medicare, they say, is not really all that universal. It's more accessible for the rich, so the rich have better health. They can also eat better and exercise more, so they stay healthier.

That's an over simplification, but you get the idea. It's an argument that's been made before, and few that I have seen seem to be questioning that the richer you are the healthier you are likely to be.

But there is a debate about who is to blame. It is a debate, judging from the comments made to a column in the Star about the study, that cuts between those who blame the poor for their poor health and those who say society as a whole needs to ensure equal access.

The wider issue,it seems to me, is that equal access to health care in general is a looming issue in Canada. Some people spend years on waiting lists, waiting for surgery. Others have to fight to get their cancer treatments or their children's autism care covered, while many others simply can't find a family doctor.

With limited funding and rising costs, access to health care is becoming a valued commodity.