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The provinces’ poor-us act on health care is wearing thin
Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
The provinces chose to ignore those tax-point grants in the recent funding debate. But a new round of tax-point transfers makes sense: it would put the ability to generate health care dollars – and the responsibility for how well they are spent – in the hands of the provinces that deliver the services.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, mental Health, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
A long-term plan for long-term care
Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
… it’s time for a new plan, one that a number of other countries have already adopted: a Canada Long-Term Care Insurance Plan, to provide a guaranteed quality of life for the elderly who are frail… long-term care insurance promotes better care, and ultimately saves the government money, by increasing the years people are able to live in their homes in older age and reducing the time spent in nursing homes and hospitals.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada is failing to meet the moment on the cost of medication
Saturday, March 11th, 2023
They have threatened repeatedly that these reforms will halt the entrance of new drugs into the Canadian market and… will hamper “the country’s ability to attract investment to our life-sciences sector.”… threats like this are only rhetoric, not reality. Britain, Sweden and France have all achieved lower drug prices while maintaining higher rates of research and development than Canada.
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
How much money does Canada’s health system really need?
Friday, March 3rd, 2023
Internationally, Canada spends more per capita on health care than many other OECD countries, but performs very poorly. … other than for long-term care, there is no need for health-care costs to rise dramatically over the coming decades – not if there are appropriate structural reforms and more integrated management.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
It’s time to close the breach at Roxham Road and enforce Canada’s borders
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
It’s not mainly a question of money. The people working to receive and care for asylum seekers are limited. The number of new classes we can add to accommodate children, many of whom are distressed or traumatized, is limited, and that’s not to mention the shortage of teachers… housing… We have therefore asked the federal government to settle new asylum seekers in other provinces that are capable of supporting them with dignity.
Tags: housing, immigration, jurisdiction, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s vanishing health care crisis
Saturday, February 18th, 2023
Health care spending is actually declining this year on average, once population growth is factored in… Only the three Maritime provinces are planning to boost health care spending faster than the increase in the federal transfer… the contrast between the urgent rhetoric of the premiers and the tepid growth of spending underscores, again, the need to firmly place the responsibility for health care funding on the provinces.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa’s new health funding is tied to better data. What will that really mean?
Monday, February 13th, 2023
… as with all data, the devil is in the details. What exactly are health outcomes? Are they the same as health indicators? How will they be measured, and how can we ensure they are reported meaningfully and transparently for all Canadians? And most importantly: Will new health data meaningfully improve health care for Canadians?
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario court rules encampments can stay if there’s a shortage of shelter beds
Monday, January 30th, 2023
In a precedent-setting decision that will have implications across the province, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has denied a municipality’s request to remove a homeless encampment on the basis that doing so – when there is no adequate indoor space – would violate the residents’ Charter rights.
Tags: homelessness, ideology, rights
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Quebec basic income program begins, but advocates say many low-income people excluded
Sunday, January 29th, 2023
The program, aimed at 84,000 Quebecers with a “severely limited capacity for employment” such as a chronic illness or mental health condition, will provide an increase of more than 28 per cent for a single person, the government says… they will also have the ability to earn about $14,500 a year in wages – up from $200 a month – and have up to $20,000 in savings, all without losing benefits.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, pensions, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
How Ottawa can help fix health care: first, send less money
Friday, January 27th, 2023
When one level of government is raising the money, while another spends it, it makes it hard for the public to know who to hold to account for any of the system’s ills. That, too, dulls any lingering incentive for reform… without Ottawa to share the blame for underperformance, provincial governments would have a stronger incentive to organize the delivery of health care so as to achieve greater quality and public satisfaction per dollar spent.”
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »