Op-Eds
In a now familiar move, the government of Alberta is hoping to put the province back in the black in part by keeping a lid on health spending over the next few years.
The province is hardly alone in adopting this tactic. Provincial health spending has entered a new era of restraint, with Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick at the head of the pack. But it is unclear whether publicly funded health systems have achieved lasting efficiency gains by “bending the health-care cost curve,” as Finance Minister Joe Ceci has repeatedly remarked.
After all, we have witnessed a similar narrative before: in the mid-1990s, many provincial governments managed to reduce health spending — Alberta the most dramatic among them. However, in the…
Ontario’s physicians are vital caregivers in the province. Their salaries represent the second largest line item in health spending. And they are not happy. Negotiations between doctors, represented by the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), and the Ontario government, have been on ice for almost two years. During the past several years, they have been without a contract, and the Ontario government has unilaterally reduced their fees.
They might resume negotiations soon following a letter by the Health Minister that the government will consider the OMA’s demand for binding arbitration. However, agreeing to this demand will likely be costly to taxpayers and won’t solve overarching issues, such as how to make more efficient use…
The joint federal/provincial statement coming out of the Vancouver meeting of health ministers is encouraging in several ways. It suggests a more co-operative and pragmatic approach to health policy than we have seen in the past, and includes a welcome focus on aboriginal health. That said, the tough financing and accountability issues still need resolution, and the provinces have heavy lifting ahead if they want to engage in serious reform.
On the positive side, the health ministers signalled their intention to address gaps in coverage and performance with respect to care in the community, mental health, prescription drugs and health outcomes for aboriginal people. The federal government’s decision to join the pan-Canadian…
Today, provincial and federal health ministers are meeting in Vancouver to negotiate a new health accord. Given the underwhelming results of the previous accord, and the mounting challenges facing today’s provincial health systems, they have their work cut out for them.
Canada’s health-care system ranks in the median on a number of OECD performance measures, but is one of the highest spenders on health care. Similar results emerge from the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Policy Surveys, in which Canada has, over the last decade, remained well below the average of other developed countries.
Canada’s mediocre rankings seem to be due to the high cost and uneven quality of the care that all provinces are required to…
By Åke Blomqvist and Colin Busby
Progress towards more efficient and accessible drug plans risks stalling by strict agendas that fail to recognize the issue’s complexities. The oft-mentioned plan for universal coverage under Ottawa’s mandate is a case in point. A more realistic plan would immediately improve drug coverage for the most at-risk populations and aim to achieve universality over time by dealing with the issue of high prices and quality prescribing.
We agree with Steve Morgan, and many others, that the degree of drug coverage in Canada is inadequate, that the way in which we pay for drugs is inefficient and inequitable, and that a national bulk purchaser is an important solution going forward.…
