Former medical technologists from Winnipeg were to begin screening patients for issues such as plugged arteries and abdominal aneurysms at the cost of $139 plus GST, that is until the health authorities got in their way. Randy Spielvogel and his wife Alison began a mobile screening program based in North Dakota - MoblileLifeScreening - and according to the reports in the Winnipeg Free Press, over 500 Manitobans have paid them a visit down south for screening of potentially life threatening problems.

But in their no- so infinite wisdom, Manitoba Health officials denied MobileLifeScreening's request to operate in our province. Initially the province had said the mobile program was not subject to regulation and the technologists were free to operate and provide their services to Manitobans. Yet in early January, the government changed their mind thus canceling a new round of scheduled tests. The government's spokesman for this file, the assistant deputy minister of health Terry Goertzen told the Free Press that a group of "physician experts all agreed MobileLifeScreening should not be allowed to operate."

There was little justification provided for this decision, particularly since completed tests are verified by a radiologist in the U.S. within a matter of weeks.

All of this simply boils down to the government's protecting its health care monopoly; and this isn't the first time this has happened. When they first took office, the NDP government "bought out" the Pan Am Clinic; they then set their sights on the Maples Surgical Centre who were offering MRI scans for $695 - the government took over the remaining lease on the equipment for a year.

This type of government heavy-handed behaviour is not just a Manitoba phenomenon. The Ontario government had a request from a mobile screening business based in Cleveland, which they rejected. A private surgical centre had faced uphill battles in BC when they opened their doors and federally, almost all parties have campaigned on the antiquated notion of no private health care in Canada.

What the advocates of a state monopoly forget - or don't want to acknowledge -is this that monopolies are expensive, inefficient and most important, inadequate. Further, private health care exists all over our country: Chiropractors, optometrists and dentists all operate on a fee for service basis. Finally, what business is it of the governments how we spend our after-tax dollars. What a strange country we live in where we can spend all our after tax dollars on gambling and tobacco, but not on health care.

When all is said and done, it would be beneficial to all Manitobans for a company like MobileLifeScreening to operate in our province, Ontarians and Saskatchewanians could take advantage of this important service too. This would be an excellent opportunity for the provincial government to send a message they are not threatened by private sector involvement in our failing health care system; the provincial government could even go as far as other provinces have, like B.C., and sign contracts to work with companies like MobileLifeScreening. Sadly, because they are too blinded by ideology, the government is unlikely to change their decision, thus relegating more patients to the back of the line.