Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
My brain tumour has returned, my drug plan has not
Tuesday, December 17th, 2019
… in its current form, our country will remove a tumour and leave the medication on the back of the patient (to say nothing of teeth, vision care and mental health, which are curiously not covered by our “universal” system)… To those of us directly affected, it’s a crisis and daily failure of a country that prides itself on socialized medicine to step up and protect us. We don’t need this in 2027 — we have prescriptions that aren’t being filled now.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s mental-health crisis, Part 3: Solving the problem will mean more beds — and more political will
Friday, December 13th, 2019
… on any given day, there are approximately 2,300 patients who are awaiting transfer to a more appropriate bed… Of these 2,300 patients, 9 per cent, or approximately 200 people, are awaiting transfer to a more appropriate care setting for a mental-health issue… The provincial government has pledged to do more for mental health and to expand the long-term-care system generally. But that will take years and sustained political will.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Is a national pharmacare program any closer to reality?
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
it’s delusional to think the Liberals will act anything other than slowly. While the purported savings are compelling, shifting spending from private drug plans to the public treasury is much less so. Not to mention that the provinces are, at best, lukewarm about the idea… The premiers want the escalator to increase to 5.2 per cent before they even consider pharmacare.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Myth Busting: Drug Spending, Prices and Pharmacare
Friday, December 6th, 2019
There are many individuals who lack sufficient coverage for prescription medications… But to address those gaps, it is important to understand the real challenges to achieving the goal: the fiscal pressure of high-cost treatments for relatively few beneficiaries and a lack of coverage for a minority of Canadians.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Equitable pharmacare deal requires Trudeau to strike deal with wary premiers
Wednesday, December 4th, 2019
Every province operates some form of public drug plan for seniors and the poor. All premiers would be pleased to have Ottawa take on part of that financial burden. But they don’t want to be hosed again, as many feel they were with medicare… That’s why the premiers insist that any national pharmacare scheme must have “adequate and sustained” federal funding.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
A tricky operation: Finding a place for private health insurance in a public system
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019
Every health insurance program in the developed world, public and private, is struggling with a daunting triple challenge: An aging population, the soaring cost of new technologies and rising consumer expectations… private sector efficiency is a myth. Private hospitals keep patients longer, order more tests, prescribe more drugs and provide a lot of low-value or no-value care. They overtreat and overcharge… private hospitals are not going to solve the woes of Canadian medicare
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »
A lack of nutritious food is harming Canadians
Wednesday, November 27th, 2019
One of the fundamental principles of our medicare system is that every Canadian should have access to evidence-based treatments. But we are failing Canadians when it comes to one of the most essential medicines — access to nutritious and healthy food. We can no longer divorce the health of Canadians from nutrition in our health care system. Our health as a nation is depending on it.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
The elimination of regional leadership in Ontario’s health system
Wednesday, November 27th, 2019
The health team design principles suggest that regional leadership of the system is not important if local care is better integrated. This may be true but having experience in working with the LHINs to implement change in Ontario, I worry about the loss of a regional leadership structure, which demonstrably improved quality in Ontario health care.
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Requires a Made-in-the-USA Solution
Friday, November 22nd, 2019
“Canada represents only 2% of global pharmaceutical consumption vs. America’s 44%. In fact, the state of Florida alone spends more than all of Canada on prescription medicine… Canada imports between 68-70% of our final dosage form prescription drug supply and for the remaining 30% that we do manufacture domestically – over 90% of the components come from abroad.”
Tags: economy, globalization, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario’s healthcare spending lowest in Canada — but going lower
Thursday, November 21st, 2019
These cuts, totalling about $360 million, will affect everything from mental health care to cancer screening, according to Natalie Mehra, head of the Ontario Health Coalition… Their impact will likely be profound, since… Ontario’s health-care spending is only $3,903 per person — the lowest of the ten provinces — and $487 per person lower than the Canadian average…
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, philanthropy, privatization, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Comments