TheStar.com - $25,000 gets you a hip with a trip

TheStar.com - $25,000 gets you a hip with a trip: "All-inclusive operation for a hefty fee

There are alternatives - lets start using them to break the Q- Q-jumpers

PRITHI YELAJA
STAFF REPORTER

Need hip surgery?
For a 'package price' of $25,000 (U.S.) a private medical referral service setting up shop in Toronto can get you the operation and will also throw in the cost of a hotel stay and meals for a companion.
The hefty price includes fees for a surgeon, anesthetist and nursing care at a hospital near the U.S. border.
The Vancouver-based company, which provides referrals to the U.S. for patients needing everything from surgery to diagnostic tests, is also expanding into Quebec.
Business is booming because of lengthy wait lists, especially for joint replacement surgery, which makes up 90 per cent of their business, said Rick Baker, president of Timely Medical Alternatives Inc., which has been in operation for a year. The rising Canadian dollar is also boosting his bottom line, he added.'Some of the stories would make your hair curl. These are horror stories of people facing interminable waits,' Baker said. 'Finally, in desperation, they get in touch with us and 17 days later they have a new hip.'
The average wait to receive treatment after seeing an orthopedic surgeon ranges from 53.4 weeks in Saskatchewan to 10.7 weeks in New Brunswick. In Ontario, the median wait is 21 weeks.
Health policy experts say going south of the border for care is not new, as Ontarians already have that option. What's new is the middleman making a profit on the idea, said Dr. Philip Berger of the Medical Reform Group, which advocates for a publicly funded universal health system.
However, who pays if the patient has a complication, asked Berger. "