Long-Term Care for the Elderly: Challenges and Policy Options
Innovative reforms are needed to prepare for the coming surge in demand for long-term care services from aging babyboomers, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Long-Term Care for the Elderly: Challenges and Policy Options,” authors Ake Blomqvist and Colin Busby recommend methods to fairly divide costs between care recipients […] How to Pay Family Doctors: Why ‘Pay per Patient’ is Better than Fee for Service
Paying doctors for each patient in their care, rather than per-service-performed, would add value for money and increase access to physicians in primary care, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “How to Pay Family Doctors: Why ‘Pay per Patient’ is Better than Fee for Service,” authors Ake Blomqvist and […] Health reform? Ottawa must provide clarity: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Published in the Globe and Mail on April 26, 2012
By Gerard Boychuk
Having won the Alberta election, Premier Alison Redford is now setting her sights on providing leadership in establishing the national agenda on health-care reform. In doing so, she won’t be able to ignore the issue of patient wait times. Wildrose may have lost the election, but it did propose some ideas in this regard that are likely to remain front and centre on the political agenda.
An important one that will have life in Alberta and beyond is a Patient Wait Time Guarantee, which would have allowed Albertans on lengthy waiting lists to seek care from independent health providers in or out of province with provincial public insurance coverage.…
Grey Zones: Emerging Issues at the Boundaries of the Canada Health Act
Greater clarity is needed in the controversial “grey zones” of the Canada Health Act to contribute to the quality of public debate and advance healthcare reform, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Grey Zones: Emerging Issues at the Boundaries of the Canada Health Act, author Gerard Boychuk examines four hot-button […] Better Value for Money in Healthcare: European Lessons for Canada
Canada’s provinces could learn from the Dutch and UK models as they seek better value for money in healthcare delivery, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Better Value for Money in Healthcare: European Lessons for Canada, economists Ake Blomqvist and Colin Busby highlight methods to curb costs and improve healthcare […] Hard Choices are Coming on Health Care: Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed
Published in the Ottawa Citizen on April 22, 2011
By David Dodge and Richard Dion
As societies become richer, they tend to accommodate the rising demands and expectations of their citizens for more and better-quality health-care services. The value that citizens place on preserving and extending a good-quality life becomes more important as their consumption of other goods and services expands with their income.
Over the last 35 years or so, public and private health-care expenditures have risen substantially as a proportion of national income (GDP), doubling to 16 per cent in the United States and increasing from seven to 12 per cent in Canada. This is a trend that will not dissipate easily.
On the basis of…
A Social Insurance Model for Pharmacare: Ontario’s Options for a More Sustainable, Cost-Effective Drug Program
The cost of provincial pharmacare is set to rise precipitously, with spending on Ontario’s drug benefit plan for seniors projected to increase from about 1 percent of provincial income to a full 5 percent by 2061, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. To prepare for this rising spending on drugs as babyboomers age […]Chronic Healthcare Spending Disease: A Macro Diagnosis and Prognosis
The amount Canadians spend on healthcare is set to rise rapidly over the next two decades and Canadians need to face up to tough choices to deal with this “spending disease,” according to a new C.D. Howe Institute study by David A. Dodge, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and Deputy Minister of Health, […]La maladie chronique des dépenses en soins de santé : un diagnostic et un pronostic macroéconomiques
2011 – David A. Dodge, Richard Dion Toronto, le 6 avril – On prévoit une augmentation rapide des montants investis par les Canadiens en rapport avec les soins de santé au cours des deux prochaines décennies; les Canadiens devront ainsi prendre des décisions difficiles pour mettre un terme à cette « dépensite ». C’est ce […]Let Our Hospitals Compete: National Post Op-Ed
Published in the National Post on March 22, 2011
By Colin Busby
Do you have a sharp pain in your stomach that won’t go away? If yes, you may soon visit an emergency room for help. Your next decision is whether to go to Toronto General, Western, St. Michael’s, etc., for service. As an aid, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care posts online monthly updates of average ER wait times for complex (strokes, chest pains, etc.) and non-complex (sprains, cuts, etc.) patients at each hospital.
For starters, we should applaud this initiative: transparency is the first step to bringing wait times down to provincial standards. Plus, a corresponding pay-for-results initiative encourages improved hospital performance…
Save Health Care. Give the Canada Health Act a Sunset Clause: National Post Op-Ed
Published in the National Post on March 7, 2011
By Colin Busby
In 1984, the federal Parliament unanimously passed the Canada Health Act (CHA). Ottawa enshrined the principles of public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility as the cornerstones of Canada’s public health system, and made federal health-care funding conditional on the provinces’ adherence to these principles.
Today, the CHA is showing its age. The laws that best suited Canadian health care in the 1980s no longer meet the challenges of 2011; the size of the system, its cost and its complexity have grown. Revisiting the principles of the CHA, and their effectiveness in improving health-care delivery over…
Why Do We Still Subsidize Care for the Well-to-do? Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Published in the Globe and Mail on November 19, 2010
By Michael Bliss
There are no quick “fixes” to Canada’s system of national health insurance. Many prescriptions for change can’t be implemented because of public resistance. But it’s feasible to reduce the financial burdens of health care on Canadian governments. The history of our other major social programs suggests we can usefully revisit the idea of universal entitlement to benefits. As it does with child care and old age pensions, the state can helpfully subsidize the needy. It doesn’t have to pay for everyone’s health care.
What are the lessons taught by our history of medicare? My first conclusion is that we should get over being obsessed by the cost…