Alberta is quietly ushering in a future where you might wait longer for an MRI — not because other patients are sicker, but because they have more money.

On July 27, the Alberta government announced that as of July 31, Albertans can self-refer to diagnostic testing and imaging — such as MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, and X-rays — through out-of-pocket payments. This move will allow those who can to pay to “jump the queue,” while evidence from other jurisdictions and the current state of health-care resources suggests that the majority of patients will wait even longer.

We do not have the human resources to support unrestricted purchase of these tests. In Alberta, lengthy wait times are driven in part by substantial vacancy rates among radiation therapists (16.7 per cent), laboratory technologists (10 per cent) and radiological technologists (five per cent). Rather than easing pressure, self-referral will worsen workforce shortages by creating financial incentives for technicians to leave the public system for the private sector.

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