Posts Tagged ‘Health’

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Pharmacare today, like medicare 50 years ago, makes sense

Friday, June 14th, 2019

In terms of cost overall, most experts agree that a universal, single-pay system would save money for Canadians… But a universal public program would also shift costs from individuals and employers to governments… Canadians would pay more in taxes for universal drug coverage. But this tax increase would be more than compensated for by the out-of-pocket, administrative and cost savings associated with the move to public pharmacare.

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New report provides the Trudeau Liberals with a blueprint for pharmacare

Friday, June 14th, 2019

There’s true pharmacare, as laid out by the advisory council chaired by Ontario’s former health minister, Eric Hoskins. Then there’s a paler version that seeks only to fill in the gaps by providing coverage for those who currently have none… Canadians already pay more for drugs than they do for doctors’ services and… drug costs are rising at an unsustainable 6.5 per cent per year. That has a big impact on both workplace plans and government drug benefits for seniors and the poor.

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Universal Pharmacare Within Reach: C.D. Howe Institute

Friday, June 7th, 2019

In “Filling the Gaps: A Prescription for Universal Pharmacare,” Policy Analyst Rosalie Wyonch finds there are ways to close the gaps in prescription drug coverage and protect households from excessive costs when in acute need through the expansion of public insurance… The report investigates current prescription drug insurance in Canadian provinces, evaluates options for achieving universal coverage and estimates their cost.

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Is beer in corner stores bad for our health?

Tuesday, June 4th, 2019

One thing that is clear from research is that the greatest impact on alcohol consumption comes from pricing policies. The cheaper alcohol is, the more people consume. Yet we don’t talk about the benefits of high taxes or floor prices. That’s why buck-a-beer policies and rhetoric should concern us much more than where products are sold.

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PSLRTA Overhaul in the Health Services Sector

Friday, May 31st, 2019

Labour relations in the health care sector have been a clear focus of the new government…  Arguably, this could lead to less union participation in health care personnel movement between entities going forward. However, given the saturation of organized labour in the sector, organized labour’s reaction to personnel movement under the new regime is yet to be seen. We would expect affected unions to do all within their power to maintain membership in the face of transfers and amalgamations going forward.

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Doug Ford’s reversal on city cuts is just a brief ceasefire before the war resumes

Tuesday, May 28th, 2019

In public policy terms, it means needed services are preserved for now. In political terms it means everyone involved lives to fight another day. But make no mistake: they will fight another day. Less than a year from now. And that battle early next year could be even messier and harder than this one that just finished.

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Carbon tax smackdown: what is this argument really about?

Saturday, May 25th, 2019

… carbon taxes, so far as they raise the prices of things, impose an especially heavy burden on the poor. That would be a real concern, if the federal government were not also providing rebates covering the cost of the tax… The precedent for this was the GST tax credit, which like the carbon tax rebate more than compensates poor families for whatever it adds to the cost of living…

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Ontario health minister’s ‘modernization’ plan: cut now, figure out the details later

Friday, May 24th, 2019

They’ll scold the city for being a free-spending bastion of lefties. They’ll complain about the deficit their predecessors ran up. But they will not commit to continuing to fully fund the programs they claim to want to continue and improve… At some point taxes will have to be raised, or programs will have to be cut. Despite what Elliott says, it appears those are the choices. Not good ones. But soon necessary.

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Ready, fire, aim: the Ford’s reckless approach on cutting costs

Tuesday, May 21st, 2019

Whether it be kids with autism, students in high school music programs, people who rely on public health services, medical researchers or Toronto subway riders, the pattern is the same. The government announces a spending cut that takes everyone by surprise and then stands back as those directly involved scramble to puzzle out what just happened.Ontarians deserve better… At the bare minimum they deserve a government that figures out the effects of its actions before it pulls the trigger.

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Health units worried about province’s plans to consolidate 35 agencies into 10

Monday, May 20th, 2019

The planned transformation comes as the government lowers its public health spending, requiring municipalities to contribute millions more to their health budgets than anticipated. By 2021-2022, the provincial cut is expected to be $200 million annually… The consolidation will nonetheless mean that health units will have to serve larger geographic regions, which include communities with different needs.

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