The number of British Columbians willing to pay for healthcare services is on the rise

A growing number of British Columbians think the province needs to explore different options in health care.

According to a survey conducted by Research Co., nearly half of British Columbians (46%) say they would pay out of pocket for quicker access to healthcare services which currently have long waiting times, a number up six points compared to a 2022 survey.

Just above a third of British Columbians (38%, up five points) would consider travelling to another country to gain quicker access to healthcare services that have long wait times in Canada.

“Just over half of British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (51%) would consider paying for specific medical services,” Mario Canseco, President of Research Co, said. “Almost half (46%) are willing to travel abroad to access them.”

In September of 2020, the BC Supreme Court judged that access to private health care is not a constitutional right even if wait times within the public system are too long.

Close to half of British Columbians (49%) disagree with this decision from the highest court in the province and more than a third (36%) agree while 15% remain undecided.

When it comes to the overall state of the healthcare system, 55% of British Columbians believe there are some good aspects to the province’s healthcare systems but that changes are required. Just under a third (30%) believe the healthcare system needs a revolution because there is so much wrong with it, and 10% believe only minor changes are needed as the healthcare system works well.

It is believed by 40% of British Columbians that the shortage of medical professionals in the healthcare system is the biggest issue in the system, this is down ten points from last year’s survey. Long waiting times were selected as the biggest problem by 22% of respondents while 12% believe it’s bureaucracy and poor management and 10% believe it’s inadequate resources and facilities.

In those answers, residents of Vancouver Island (54%) and Southern BC (50%) were more likely to select the shortage of doctors and nurses as the biggest issue in the healthcare system in comparison to residents of the Fraser Valley (44%), Northern BC (41%) and Metro Vancouver (35%).

These results were obtained by a Research Co. online survey that took place between Nov. 9 and 11 among 800 British Columbian Participants. Age and region-specific data was obtained by weighing the results according to Canadian census data.

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