Sask. NDP calls MRI program ‘failed experiment,’ calls for its end

Having been criticizing the program for a long time, the Saskatchewan NDP is again shaking its head at the province’s two-for-one MRI program, and now the federal clawback of health-care funds over the program.

The program was brought in in 2015, allowing a patient to pay for an MRI (or later, a CT scan) privately as long as the provider also gave a scan to someone on the public wait list.

On Friday, the federal government announced it would be taking back money from several provinces for charging private fees; that included Saskatchewan to the tune of $740,000.

Vicki Mowat, the Saskatchewan NDP’s health critic, said Monday that pay for scans hasn’t worked in other provinces to reduce wait lists, so why would it here?

“It’s a failed experiment, it’s time to scrap that experiment and to look at what other solutions we can and should be taking to make sure that people have access to the diagnostics they need when they need them,” said Mowat.

Health Minister Paul Merriman argues that wait times haven’t gone down, in part, because there are more people in the province now than there were in 2015.

Mowat also said that allowing those who have the money to pay to get their scans quicker creates a two-tiered system.

“It absolutely is when someone can pay out of pocket for a diagnostic services that they wouldn’t otherwise be provided through the public system,” she said.

Merriman wouldn’t say the program creates a two-tier system, saying that just because someone has their scan doesn’t mean they’re prioritized for treatment – that when someone is treated is between them and their doctor or surgeon.

The province is going to continue with its two-for-one system, which Mowat calls bull-headed. She said the province should be looking away from private delivery and instead looking toward bolstering the public system.

“We can look at what other models have done to get themselves out of this situation, but when you’re digging a hole, you don’t just keep digging. You have to look around, re-evaluate the situation and say, ‘How are we going to get people access to the scans they need?’ ” said Mowat.

Merriman said the province is looking at expanding this style of initiative into other areas, something that is worrying to Mowat.

“This is foundational stuff for our province. People don’t want to see that abandoned and we absolutely have to make sure that our surgeries are publicly available as well and that we’re not going down that track of queue-jumping on surgeries,” said Mowat.