The Nurse Practitioner Answer to the Primary Care Crisis
Sunday, October 27th, 2024
Another factor [to explain Canadians’ seemingly sudden disenchantment with their healthcare system]may be the reluctance of provincial governments to undertake major institutional reforms. Since the 1990s, when serious budget deficits necessitated action, most provinces have been reluctant to provoke opposition from powerful interest groups, in particular physicians’ associations… As a result of this opposition, some NPs are underemployed in rural and remote communities or underutilized in urban hospitals…
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
There are Better Ways to Spend $3 Billion on Seniors than Boosting OAS
Monday, October 7th, 2024
If $3 billion per year were spent on seniors, where would it be best spent: Income security, supports, services or residential and nursing care? And if income security turns out to be the answer to that question, then why via OAS, which is paid to 7 million Canadian seniors? Should it not instead be the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which is targeted towards to Canada’s 2.2 million lowest income seniors almost all of whom really do struggle to make ends meet?
Tags: budget, economy, poverty, Seniors
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Fully Indexing Ontario Social Assistance is Long Overdue
Monday, October 7th, 2024
October 1 was the six-year anniversary of the last inflation adjustment for Ontario’s social assistance payments. Their real value has steadily eroded ever since, made worse by inflation’s recent return… The lack of indexation of Ontario social assistance benefit levels has eroded the value of these benefits significantly and contributed to rising homelessness, hunger, and demand for social and health services. It is time to introduce a more economically efficient and fairer way of adjusting these benefits on a regular basis.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Addressing the Crisis in Access to Primary to Primary Care: A Targeted Approach
Sunday, September 29th, 2024
… a major cause for the dysfunction is the reluctance of provincial governments to undertake institutional reforms, for fear of provoking interest groups – particularly physicians’ organizations. The provinces have not made major changes to their health delivery systems since forced to do so by the deficit crises of the 1990s… The author recommends… an aggressive increase in the number of nurse practitioners working in community primary care, usually in multi-discipline clinics; and… rostering patients and expanding capitation in multi-discipline clinics.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
The Doctor Dilemma: Improving Primary Care Access in Canada
Monday, May 27th, 2024
Addressing the primary care access gap involves five strategies… : 1) expanding the number of training positions and filling the unfilled residency spots with international medical graduates; 2) reducing the administrative burden for family physicians; 3) providing alternate payment models; 4) expanding the scope of practice of other primary care providers; and 5) expanding team-based models of care.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Seniors’ Care Surge will require Smart Policies
Tuesday, April 9th, 2024
Among the key recommendations: (i) provinces should invest in public home and community care while also considering mechanisms to expand the private provision of these services; (ii) Ontario and other provinces should consider providing a refundable tax credit for senior renters to access retirement homes and supportive services and; (iii) current capacity and fiscal constraints mean that expanding both publicly and privately funded options will be necessary.
Tags: budget, disabilities, housing, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Canadians could have a balanced budget and better tax system: C.D. Howe Institute Shadow Budget
Tuesday, February 27th, 2024
Beyond reducing the debt burden to a level that is prudent and more fair to younger Canadians, the authors advocate tax changes to reward work and investment… The Shadow Budget proposes restoring the GST to 7 percent over time, lowering the rate for the middle personal income tax bracket to 15 percent in 2027, and lowering the general corporate income tax rate by one percentage point in 2025 and another in 2026.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Cure for the Public Debt Pandemic: An Economic-Principles-Based Fiscal Anchor
Friday, February 2nd, 2024
… we don’t have a textbook fiscal policy but rather a counter-recession and pro-expansion debt policy… over a business cycle, the net accumulation of public debt should be equal to the value of income-generating investments. This anchor would fluctuate with changes in business conditions but would guide policymakers to maintain the tight relationship of its two parts over time… We can call this anchor “net economic public debt.”
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Understanding The Scope Of Private Healthcare In Canada
Thursday, January 18th, 2024
“The goal of this paper is not to argue either for or against private healthcare… It is simply to clarify what is meant by ‘private’ healthcare, and to explain the different ways provincial legislation currently permits or prohibits aspects of private healthcare. I also discuss the supply and demand side variables… and… offer an analysis of the relationship between provincial healthcare legislation and the Canada Health Act, with reference to the expansion of private healthcare in Canada.”
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, participation, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
National Pharmacare – Time to Get on With It
Wednesday, November 15th, 2023
National pharmacare is overdue. In 21st century healthcare, drugs are not a luxury nor a discretionary add-on. They are an essential part of healthcare delivery that should be covered universally. Canadians have already waited too long, and far too many of them don’t get the medication they need to stay healthy and manage chronic disease. The federal government can act as a catalyst by making a credible and responsible financial commitment… to improve public plan coverage.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
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