HEALTH SHIFT COULD OPEN DOOR FOR CRIME

In the Feb. 2, 1998, News and World Report, a conservative publication,
Stephen Hedges wrote, "Drug dealers and organized crime groups have invaded
the medicare system and are taking the government and citizens for a
billion-dollar ride."

As Canada considers changes in health care, we should be aware that certain
bureaucratic structures increase the likelihood of attracting organized
crime. While legitimate businesses watch for new ways to make money,
organized crime is even more alert.

With large amounts of money and companies purchased for laundering illegal
money, organized crime is well equipped to respond quickly and offer
legitimate medical services. Gradually these services can be manipulated to
skim off a little, and then a little more.

After the reunification of Germany in 1990 the government decided to sell
inefficient factories in former East Germany for a trivial amount of money.
The idea was that efficient West German and other firms would invest in
these outdated facilities, make them efficient and create new jobs. In
fact, some of the purchasers, including those well-connected with organized
crime, sold off the equipment and closed the plants.

Admittedly, government-run enterprises have problems of their own, but they
are also open to more public scrutiny. If one lives in a society that
places an undue emphasis on wealth, the scrutiny which goes with public
ownership is one way to inhibit crime.

Selling public institutions to private investors sets the stage for
opportunistic criminals. The privatization of health care is also an
invitation to organized crime, which is another reason medical cost are so
high in the U.S.

Jim Hackler

University of Victoria