Life Before Medicare
Canadian Experiences
Heeney, Helen compiler
Publisher: Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens' Organizations
Year Published: 1996
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX8173
Abstract:
Until the early 1970's Canadians had no access to affordable health care regardless of where they lived or their income. This compilation by Helen Heeney is a series of testimonies from senior citizens who lived before Tommy Douglas and the birth of public health insurance. It tells of stories of people being denied emergency care unless they could pay up front, where it took years to pay of hospitals and physicians and where people suffered and died unnecessarily. It is also a wake up call for those wishing to maintain our public system as more money goes to private-for profit health care: private home care services, rising drug prices and private surgeries to avoid long waiting lists. This book can be used as a resource for activists and concerned citizens about a past we don't want to go back to.
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