The Current Alberta opts for a public-private health-care system
Nov 24, 2025
Carrie Tate, an investigative reporter for The Globe and Mail, discusses Alberta's controversial shift to a public-private healthcare system. Dr. Braden Manns, a kidney physician and health economics professor, shares insights on the risks of creating a two-tier system and the potential for worsened care. Economist Rosalie Wanch highlights the equity concerns of private billing and warns that the actual impacts may take time to unfold. Together, they explore the implications of these changes on wait times, access, and the future of healthcare in Alberta.
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Three-Tier Doctor Model
- Alberta plans to create three categories of doctors: public-only, private-only, and hybrid who can bill both systems.
- The hybrid option is novel in Canada and is central to the policy's proposed impact on access and staffing.
Private Billing Can Drain Resources
- Allowing private billing risks moving scarce resources like surgeons and anesthetists out of the public system.
- Dr. Braden Manns warns that private work can drain operating-room teams and worsen public wait lists.
Patient Who Waited 2.5 Years
- Paul Ryan waited two and a half years for a hip replacement and said he would have paid privately to avoid that wait.
- His experience illustrates the human toll long surgical waits impose on daily life and mental health.