Archive for the ‘Health Policy Context’ Category
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Ontario should back off on seniors’ drug costs
The ink is barely dry on last week’s Ontario budget and already Premier Kathleen Wynne is conceding the possibility that her government didn’t “get it right” on the sensitive issue of prescription drugs for seniors. She’s correct: making most seniors pay more for their prescriptions is a wrong-headed approach and the sooner the government backs away from it, the better… Ironically, Wynne’s own health minister, Eric Hoskins, has been pushing for national pharmacare.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
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Newborn screening: 50 years of federal foot-dragging
If 50 states and a district can reach agreement south of the border, surely we can do so with 13 provinces and territories in Canada. But what’s needed is federal leadership – something that has been absent in health care for a decade… Within a generation – and likely much sooner – we will be doing full exome or genome testing on all newborns. Our ability to detect rare disorders will grow exponentially.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Lessons from Canada’s refugee-health saga
Harper made it legitimate to discriminate against asylum seekers. Habits like that aren’t easy to change. On the other hand, Rashid says, the refugee health saga turned medical students and residents into leaders. It was a living case study in what can happen when cost-cutting trumps fairness and compassion. “We now have a generation of clinicians that recognizes that advocacy is part of their profession.”
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, standard of living
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It’s time to think beyond national pharmacare
Those working on pharmacare need to think bigger: not only on how federal, provincial and territorial governments can co-operate to create a national formulary, but also on how it can be designed in parallel with changes in pharmaceutical regulation and research… In pharmaceutical research, a wholesale rethink of the incentives, criteria, and processes for rewarding and carrying out drug research is needed.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, standard of living
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Liberals get it right with focus on home care
Beefing up home care is what Ottawa wants. It seems to be what the provinces want. But will the provinces sign an agreement that binds them to spend at least some of the federal money for this purpose only? Or will the provinces offer vague assurances that cannot be monitored? … Home care is the correct priority in a health-care world with endless priorities and incessant demands. Can the often-disputatious Canadian governments pull together around this common objective?
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
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Farewell, Wizard of Oz [A New Federal-Provincial Health Accord]
… a new Health Accord for Canada… must support the delivery of more and better home care services. Second, a new Health Accord must advance pan-Canadian collaboration on health innovation to encourage the adoption of digital health technologies. Third, there must be improved access to necessary prescription medications. Finally, high-quality mental health services must be more available to Canadians who need them.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
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Rethink Healthcare on Five Areas of National Priority
In “Challenging Vested Interests: National Priorities for Healthcare”… the authors outline five healthcare policy priorities for 2016… 1) Policies to Improve Value for Money… 2) Gaps in Public and Private Coverage… 3) The Canada Health Transfer – Hold the Line and Tweak… 4) A New Health Accord… and 5) Direct Federal Health Programs… Canadians spend a lot of money on healthcare and get middling results, but… a willingness by Ottawa to play a more active role on healthcare… should be welcomed.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
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If only Canadian politicians had the courage of patients
The choice to live or die should be made between a patient and his or her doctor, like any other medical decision. What the recent assisted death(s) in Quebec show, more than anything else, is that patients with grievous and irremediable health conditions are ready to exercise their right to die thoughtfully and judiciously. We should expect the same dignified response from the judges and legislators. What we have instead is yet more dithering and disrespect for patient rights.
Tags: crime prevention, disabilities, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
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At last, Ontario will make life a little more difficult for anti-vaxxer parents
In December, the Ontario government proposed an amendment to the Immunization of School Pupils Act that would mean that parents seeking non-medical exemptions for their children would be required to attend an information session held by their local public health unit. Parents could still file an exemption after attending the session, but the process will no longer be as simple as checking a box and signing on the line.
Tags: child care, Health, ideology, participation, rights
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PTSD: The arc of justice bends toward first responders
Mental illness now accounts for more than 40 per cent of all disability claims in the workplace. Increasingly, mental illness is also a prime cause of workers’ compensation claims, with psychological “injuries” now accounting for more than one in four cases. In most jurisdictions, however, the burden of proof is on the claimant to show that work activities were the cause of PTSD. What the changes in the Manitoba law do is reverse the onus, so the employer… must show it is not.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, standard of living
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