With the UCP now charging an “admin” fee for COVID vaccines, if you don’t have a pre-existing condition, why not extend this to regular flu shots? I spend hours washing my hands before meals and after being outside, sanitizing my phone, and even holding my breath when someone sneezes near me. Meanwhile, some people can just roll up, get a tiny jab, and be immune. That is completely unacceptable.
Getting the flu should be a matter of personal responsibility. We cannot hand out instant immunity to everyone. How is this fair to the hardworking hand washers and diligent sanitizer users? I have spent my own money on soap, masks, and hand sanitizer, and you are saying taxpayer dollars go toward flu vaccines for the lazy? I even made the sacrifice of avoiding children and not having my own so I wouldn’t bring foreign diseases into my home.
Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Primary and “Preventative” Health Services, needs to take notice. Flu vaccines must come with a cost. If you get sick, that is your responsibility. Accept the consequences and feel the wrath of the flu.
If you end up taking a week off work, make sure you have saved up. Don’t expect a handout. And if you find yourself in the ER with the flu, you should be paying for it. Nurses and doctors work hard, and the cost of your treatment should not fall on taxpayers who avoid crowds and take zinc every day. Take note, Adriana.
Let’s take it a step further and start charging for cancerous mole removal—especially for people who don’t take care of their skin. When I worked in landscaping, I never forgot a hat, sunscreen, or long sleeves. All that money on sunscreen isn’t fair when someone can just walk in and get a free mole removal. I should get it for free if the random cancer lottery somehow picks me, but at least I kept up with my 12-step Korean skincare routine, half of which is sun protection.
Adriana, your job is clear: start charging people for healthcare. MHCare and Telus Health are counting on you. The entire for-profit sector is waiting eagerly for Alberta to monetize services. Charging is also a clever way to shorten wait times—$500 for an ER visit for the flu might make some people reconsider staying home. Besides, you’re doing them a favor, sparing them from the subpar Turkish Tylenol that cost taxpayers $70 million.
We also need a VIP tier for paid services. Most of the public may start paying eventually, but it’s the wealthy 1% who will drive the revenue. Disneyland has its Lightning Lanes, ski hills have VIP tickets, and Alberta healthcare should take the same approach. As middle-class spending power declines, private VIP access keeps donors in the for-profit sector happy. If the top spenders cover at least half of total services, it might justify the whole scheme.
Speaking of debt, bring in Nate Horner, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board. When medical bankruptcies spike in Alberta, he can oversee collections. For maximum effect, invite Ashish Masih from Encore Capital Group to a hockey game—fully all-inclusive. You might as well invite Sam Mraiche, so they can be buddies while the rest of us foot the bill.
The sad reality is that this is exactly the direction the UCP government is willing to take Alberta healthcare. Satire aside, the goal is clear: gradual privatization of medical services. Recent policy changes allowing surgeons to work in both the public and private systems at the same time will not reduce wait times. They will increase them in the public system.
Yes, the minister claims certain surgeries will remain public, and that surgeons will be required to work a minimum number of hours in the public system before operating privately. No details. No enforcement clarity. Even with these weak guardrails, the core issue remains untouched: Alberta does not have enough clinicians. Allowing dual practice doesn’t create new doctors or nurses. It simply redistributes them. Scarcity stays the same, and the public system loses.
This isn’t incompetence. The UCP knows exactly what it’s doing. Furthermore, their base will continue to vote for them as long as there’s a convenient scapegoat, whether that’s immigration, “woke ideology,” or the federal government. Some criticism of federal policy is fair, but it rings hollow when the province actively encourages population growth through advertising campaigns while simultaneously catering to business lobbies pushing for more temporary foreign workers.
The long-term strategy is normalization. Make people accept paying for basic healthcare. When they can’t afford it, shift the blame to Ottawa for not keeping up with cost of living pressures. That argument only works when provinces aren’t deliberately reshaping healthcare access themselves.
This post exaggerates that logic to its absurd conclusion. Charging for flu shots. Charging for cancer treatment. Charging for ER visits. Because once you accept the premise that healthcare should depend on “personal responsibility” and ability to pay, the line disappears entirely.