MRI Scans Not Business-as-usual

Health Minister Dustin Duncan on proposed changes to allow private MRI scans said, "What we want to see is whether or not this concept of two-for-one ... can demonstrate that a business case actually could support this type of alternative arrangement." I want you to pause here and reflect on the phrase "business case."
My spouse recently announced that his comfy reading chair was broken although it appears functional. It was hard to keep a straight face during his announcement because for years guests who have unwittingly sat in this deceptive chair have needed help extricating themselves. Replacing the broken chair is a market transaction because buyer and seller can agree to an exchange or walk away.

What if it was not our chair but my spouse that was broken? Like the chair he might look functional but he was in pain and the doctor said he needed an MRI. This is not a transaction he will walk away from if he has the money and if he does not have the money the stress of waiting for an MRI will worsen his health.
Economist James K. Galbraith declares that "There is not only no market in health care, there are no markets within health care either." Please write, phone (306-787-7345), or email (he.minister@gov.sk.ca ) Minister Duncan and explain to him that there is no business case possible for MRIs or anything else health related because we are not dealing with inanimate things but with loved ones.

Our Rhino

Do you remember reading a Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) article this summer which employed a rhino, ticks, and oxpecker birds to build an analogy? It subjectively concluded "…Saskatchewan has too many government employees [oxpeckers] and taxpayers [the rhino] are paying higher taxes [ticks] as a result." As an educator I appreciate the power of analogies but like all power, it can be abused. 
A flaw in the CTF analogy is that the oxpeckers are also taxpayers.  Let's say that our rhino weighs 2,000 pounds.  The CTF says that 25% of our workers, 500 lbs. of rhino, are on the government payroll and the government is on target to reduce its rhino weight by 15% or 75 lbs.  The CTF advises, in addition to excising 75 lbs., the government needs to tell school boards, universities, and health regions to not fill in "not-so-essential" positions when baby boomers retire.  But this means even less tax money and more retirees who generally need more health care necessitating further cuts and putting more stress on our health care system. 

What 75 lbs would you remove?

A greater flaw in the analogy though is that the CTF wants us to see taxes as ticks—irritations that we can do without.  However, taxes give us collectively a quality of life we could never afford individually; services like hospitals, schools, parks, and roads.  Instead of risking severing an artery in our tax rhino, why don't we direct our governments to suture the malignant corporate tax gap estimated at $170 billion?
Submitted as a "Letter to the Editor" 29-Dec-2014