Op-Eds
Published in the Toronto Star on May 15, 2015
By Åke Blomqvist and Colin Busby
Åke Blomqvist is an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University and Health Policy Scholar at the C.D. Howe Institute, where Colin Busby is a Senior Policy Analyst.
Ontario’s minister of health, Eric Hoskins, announced plans this week for change in the province’s home and community care programs, and should be applauded. One central aspect of the minister’s plan, to give homecare patients greater control over the decisions regarding the services they receive, is promising.
Self-directed care, in which patients and their caregivers get a greater say in provider choice as well as in what services they receive, can…
Published in the Toronto Star on March 12, 2015
By: Colin Busby and Nicholas Chesterley
Colin Busby is a Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto. Nicholas Chesterley is a Clarendon Scholar and DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford.
The greatest issue facing public health officials in Ontario is not knowing the immunization status of preschoolers in the province.
Do Ontario’s parents really care what a few Hollywood celebrities say about whether to get their children vaccinated? They likely do not, or not as much as some people think.
Two things — improved access to clean water and vaccinations — account for the lion’s share of all longevity…
Busby and Chesterley: Alberta must do more to ensure kids get vaccinated: Calgary Herald Op-Ed
Published in The Calgary Herald on March 12, 2015
By: Colin Busby and Nicholas Chesterley
Colin Busby is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto and Nicholas Chesterley is a Clarendon scholar at the University of Oxford.
New parents have many things to fret about. Over most of the last century, the vulnerability of their child to infectious diseases has generally not been one of them, due largely to advances in vaccination programs. But parents ought to be concerned about growing cracks in vaccination coverage.
Alberta and other provinces have had measles outbreaks in the last year. These outbreaks are harbingers of things to come unless vaccination coverage improves, and…
Published in The Globe and Mail on February 25, 2015
By: Åke Blomqvist and Colin Busby
Åke Blomqvist is an adjunct research professor at Carleton University and health policy scholar at the C.D. Howe Institute, where Colin Busby is a senior policy analyst.
Canada’s provincial governments should change the rules that currently limit the right of doctors and hospitals to treat patients privately, and that prevent private insurers from offering plans that pay for physician and hospital services outside provincial insurance plans.
Private payment of health-care costs in Canada today is mostly for things like prescription drugs, vision care, long-term care outside hospitals and dentistry,…
Published in the National Post on February 23, 2015
By: Åke Blomqvist, Colin Busby and Aaron Jacobs
Åke Blomqvist is an adjunct research professor at Carleton University and a health policy scholar at the C.D. Howe Institute. Colin Busby is a senior policy analyst and Aaron Jacobs is a research intern with the C.D. Howe Institute.
With negotiations between the Ontario Medical Association and the province breaking down, there is a need to consider new approaches to funding physicians in Canada, especially when it comes to funding specialists working in our public hospitals.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons found that, in 2012, about 34% of new hospital-based specialists reported not…
