Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

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Ontario plans to expand midwives’ prescribing power

Tuesday, October 31st, 2023

Ontario is planning to expand the list of drugs that midwives can prescribe and administer, including allowing them to prescribe birth control… A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the ministry is reviewing further scope-of-practice changes and is rolling them out based on advice from health-care partners.

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Budget officer estimates cost and savings of single-payer pharmacare

Thursday, October 19th, 2023

The PBO says, “Upon the implementation of a single-payer universal drug plan… we estimate the incremental cost to the public sector (that is, federal and provincial governments) combined to be $11.2 billion in 2024-25, increasing to $14.4 billion in 2027.” In terms of the economy as a whole, the PBO estimates cost savings on drug expenditures of $1.4 billion in 2024-25, rising to $2.2 billion in 2027-28.

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Politicians come and go, but the clock is now ticking on long-promised pharmacare

Thursday, October 12th, 2023

Federal funding of essential medicines will, of course, cost the federal government, since it would foot the bill for all of those essential medicines instead of the provinces paying much of the costs. But the $7.6 billion price tag is a bargain. All told, a program of this kind could save provinces, employers and families $12 billion in reduced prescription drug costs. The $4 billion in direct savings for provinces alone is enough to entice even the most recalcitrant of provincial governments.

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Making preventive care fair: New approaches like self-testing at home can save lives and promote health equity

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

We could start with preventive care in redesigning health care for those who need it the most… Governments and large health-care institutions have all made grand statements about the need to tackle sexism, racism, ableism and other forms of discrimination. It is long past time for those institutions to fund and support specific actions to help those who have been disadvantaged by previous inaction.

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Early indicators of dementia: 5 behaviour changes to look for after age 50

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

… dementia is predicted to affect one million Canadians by 2030… dementia isn’t an individual journey. In 2020, care partners — including family members, friends or neighbours — spent 26 hours per week assisting older Canadians living with dementia… These numbers are expected to triple by 2050, so it’s important to look for ways to offset these predicted trajectories by preventing or delaying the progression of dementia.

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How we can actually achieve national pharmacare – Hill Times Op-Ed

Sunday, September 17th, 2023

A national public single payer drug plan… implementation requires massive administrative changes and costs… there are two other models that would work. Social insurance has been used in Canada and in many countries that have broader, higher quality universal health systems, most at lower per capita costs. A second, more targeted approach is a portable health benefit plan which uses a similar mixed funding model to help workers with no health insurance. 

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This is why you don’t have a family doctor

Monday, September 4th, 2023

The process of becoming a doctor in Canada is… entrusted to numerous ministries, universities, colleges, councils, professional organizations and accrediting agencies… In the absence of consolidated oversight for the final product, the sheer number of participants in the process makes it very difficult to achieve significant reform. We are, in fact, facing… an unwillingness to abandon previously successful practices. 

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To fix Canada’s health care, a hard economic truth must be acknowledged 

Tuesday, August 29th, 2023

… a) when public health care was first rolled out, there were limited complex interventions available; b) what could be done was relatively inexpensive; and c) given shorter lifespans, there was simply less time for a patient to require the higher-cost care commensurate with advanced age. In that context, funding health care out of general tax revenues has become increasingly hard – and will eventually be unsustainable.

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The answer is clear: we can’t afford privatized health care

Thursday, August 24th, 2023

… lots of other countries have a blended system. In fact, so does Canada. But when we look deeper, we see that we spend less on our public health system — and more out-of-pocket and privately than most of our peers. As a share of all health spending, Canada allocates 75 per cent as public investment. How does that compare? Canada is a standout Scrooge.

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What would you rather have: Too many doctors, or too few?

Friday, August 18th, 2023

There’s more than just supply and demand…  There is no perfect system. There is no getting around the need for incentives and management to discourage abuses and encourage good service…  To save medicare, we must get the incentives right.

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