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The real costs of ‘free’ health care
Monday, January 24th, 2011
January 24, 2011
Canada’s health-care system encourages our citizens to abdicate responsibility for their own health. Our near-total absence of user fees, for example, encourages people to schedule doctor’s visits or visit emergency rooms without any awareness of the true costs to the system. In economic terminology this is known as moral hazard… The moral hazard explains why many of us fail to consider the health consequences of our lifestyles. Because there is no financial penalty to unhealthy living… A consequence of this is the overburdened health-care system…
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, standard of living
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More power to the patient
Monday, December 13th, 2010
December 13, 2010
Reforms enacted by Ontario’s Ministry of Health aren’t what we need. The province is fiddling with physicians’ payment schemes, so that doctors bill according to the number of patients they see, rather than the sort of care they provide… Nor will… family health teams provide much help. So rather than investing in family health teams, shouldn’t the province direct its scarce resources toward supplying us with more physicians? …competition among doctors would shift the power dynamic… from the government and health care providers to the clients.
Tags: Health, privatization
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An opening for health care reform
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
April 14, 2010
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews made it clear that the Liberals were elected to save the province from the alleged threat of private health care, and that there would only ever be a monopoly government payer under the Liberal watch. Meanwhile, hospitals make do with minimum levels of funding and infrastructure is ageing.
Tags: budget, Health
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