csua.org/u/cb5 -> www.nytimes.com/2005/06/09/international/americas/09cnd-canada.html?hp&ex=1118376000&en=0b16373d15ab0917&ei=5094&partner=homepage
CLIFFORD KRAUSS Published: June 9, 2005 TORONTO, June 9 - The Canadian Supreme Court struck down a Quebec law ban ning private medical insurance today, dealing an acute blow to the publi cly financed national health care system. The court stopped short of striking down the constitutionality of the cou ntry's vaunted nationwide coverage, but legal experts said the ruling wo uld open the door to a wave of lawsuits challenging the health care syst em in other provinces. The system, providing Canadians with free doctor's services that are paid for by taxes, has generally been supported by the public, and is broadl y identified with the Canadian national character. But in recent years, patients have been forced to wait longer for diagnos tic tests and elective surgery, while the wealthy and well connected eit her seek care in the United States or use influence to jump ahead on wai ting lists. The court ruled that the waiting lists had become so long that they viola ted patients' "liberty, safety and security" under the Quebec charter, w hich covers about one-quarter of Canada's population. "The evidence in this case shows that delays in the public health care sy stem are widespread and that in some serious cases, patients die as a re sult of waiting lists for public health care," the Supreme Court ruled. "In sum, the prohibition on obtaining private health insurance is not co nstitutional where the public system fails to deliver reasonable service s" The case was brought to the Supreme Court by a Montreal family doctor, Ja cques Chaoulli, who argued his own case through the courts, and by a che mical salesman, George Zeliotis, who was forced to wait a year for a hip replacement while being prohibited from paying privately for surgery. Chaoulli and Mr Zeliotis lost in two Quebec provincial courts before the Supreme Court took their appeal. Chaoulli declared a victory and predicted that the decision would eventually apply to all of Canada. "How could you ima gine that Quebeckers may live," he asked, "and the English Canadian has to die?" Chaoulli, who was born in France, has long called for Canada to adopt a two-tier, public-private health care system similar to those of Franc e, Germany and Switzerland. Supporters of the current system, however, h ave argued that a two-tier plan will draw physicians away from the publi c system, which is already short of doctors, thus further lengthening wa iting lists. Chaoulli is a passionate if idiosyncratic advocate who has long been viewed as a lonely character on the political scene. In 1997, he went on a hunger strike for his cause in the streets of Montreal, after he was forced to abandon a private emergency house-call service. The doctor also went to the University of Montreal law school to help him make his case, but flunked out after a semester. Canada's prime minister, Paul Martin, responded to the court's decision b y saying that his government would commit to lessening waiting times for medical services while preserving the system. "We are not going to have a two-tier health care system in this country," Mr Martin told reporters. What we want to do is to strengthen the public health care system." But legal scholars and health care experts predicted a slew of lawsuits c hallenging provincial health care laws across the country. "This is indeed a historic ruling that could substantially change the ver y foundations of Medicare as we know it," the president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr.
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