Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Doctor-bashing’s not the cure for health-care costs
May. 17, 2012
… everyone behaves as if the competition for resources is a zero-sum game and no one is rewarded for acting in the collective interest. The system virtually guarantees turf wars. As a result, the medical professions resemble medieval guilds – fiercely protectionist, rigidly conservative and jealous of their status and perks… There are lots of cheaper, more effective ways to do health care. But the system is rigged to squash innovation… We spend around 12 per cent of our GDP on health care. Singapore spends around 2.4 per cent. By almost any measure, Singapore has better health-care outcomes than we have.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Why Ontario’s doctors won’t win fight on fees
May 12 2012
… doctors can’t complain of falling behind: payments have increased by 75 per cent since the Liberals took power in 2003. They remain the best-paid in the country… threats of another brain drain are contradicted by the quiet return of émigré doctors from the once-promised land of America… technological advances have bolstered the government’s case for fee reductions… expert opinion — and a strong all-party political consensus — is pushing to reallocate spending to long-term care and home care, freeing up acute care beds.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Why not put all Ontario doctors on salary?
May 11, 2012
In spite of doctors’ initial misgivings, fee-for-service medicare turned out to be a bonanza. They could still charge piece-work rates. But their payments were guaranteed by government… Ontario’s government, for instance, began by negotiating overall financial settlements with the Ontario Medical Association, leaving physicians to divvy up the pot. But that proved unsatisfactory since it allowed the most politically powerful factions within the OMA to reap the bulk of the rewards. This in turn left some areas — particularly general practice medicine — woefully underfunded.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Deb Matthews slashes fees for OHIP services to save $338 million
May 07 2012
Health Minister Deb Matthews announced Monday there would be 37 changes to the OHIP fee schedule, targeting hundreds of services provided by cardiologists, radiologists and ophthalmologists. The doctors claim this will mean longer waits in emergency wards and for test results — and warn that patients could expect a harder time finding a family doctor or a specialist because of fewer physicians. “Our doctors are the best paid in Canada,” said Matthews… “Instead of another raise for doctors, we need a real wage freeze so we can invest in more home care,”
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Focus on children first in tackling mental health
May 08 2012
… the Mental Health Commission of Canada released its blueprint for a national strategy to properly treat and support Canadians with mental illness. The comprehensive document covers every aspect of what needs to change – from how employers and schools handle mental illness to the need for more affordable housing and a reformed justice system that doesn’t criminalize illness. The danger now, though, is that rather than embracing the challenge, Harper may throw up his hands at the enormity of it all – and the seemingly high price-tag that comes with it.
Tags: mental Health, standard of living, youth
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
A character study of mental illness and change
May 6, 2012
“We do have a problem with perceptions of dangerousness among people with mental illnesses… We know that prisons, jails, are the last great asylums of North America for people with mental illness”… At the same time… a shift in public attitudes to mental health has opened vast new possibilities for progress all across the spectrum of mental health… Big philanthropy has followed suit…. “This is about managing risk. You can’t control genes, you can’t pick your parents. But genes are not absolute destiny… The extent to which stigma, illiteracy or shame stops people from checking things out is a tragedy.”
Tags: Health, mental Health, philanthropy, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Paying doctors and wait times: How does Canada compare?
May 02 2012
A recent paper put out by the OECD suggests that in 2004 Canadian GPs were paid about the same in PPP dollars as doctors in Switzerland and Austria, but less than those in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. Using the comparison to average wages, however, Canadian GPs are among the highest paid in the OECD, just below the United States (3.2 times the average wage versus 3.4 in the U.S.)… Simply spending more doesn’t seem to solve the wait time problem, but targeted spending on agreed upon targets that increases productivity appears to deliver better results than across-the-board increases to any part of the health-care system.
Tags: budget, globalization, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Health reform? Ottawa must provide clarity
Apr. 26, 2012
While the CHA says there must be deductions from federal cash transfers for extra-billing “by medical practitioners or dentists in the province,” it’s unclear as to whether extra-billing by providers in another province automatically requires federal penalties… to the degree that providing such clarity is a key step toward meaningful public dialogue on health care in Canada, the federal government should do so. Clarity is one thing that’s clearly missing from current debates.
Tags: budget, Health, rights
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Health Canada cuts funding to women’s health research groups
Apr 25 2012
Six organizations studying how government policies on everything from toxic chemicals to the legacy of residential schools impact women’s health will lose their funding as part of widespread cuts to the federal budget. Health Canada expects to save $2.85 million a year by eliminating the Women’s Health Contribution Program, which supports the work of four research centres and two communications networks across the country, by next March… the biggest loss will be how the groups went beyond clinical research to focus on how particular government policies and regulations affect the health of women.
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living, women
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
Health Canada isn’t helping Canadians cut salt intake
Apr 19 2012
… why here in Canada is our fast food even more sodium-laden than in other countries? … Health Canada has indeed recognized that our sodium-rich foods are putting our health at risk. So what does this government agency do to help Canadians reach recommended targets? Not much… the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will no longer police food labels. It’s just the latest in a number of moves that appear to be putting corporate health before the health of Canadians… With the government relinquishing its watchdog status, there is nothing to motivate companies to correct inaccurate and potentially misleading information that may make their products appear healthier.
Tags: Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Posts