Posts Tagged ‘mental Health’
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Wynne’s throne speech promises new spending on health care, home care and child care in Ontario
In a speech from the throne Monday, Wynne outlined the Liberal government’s agenda leading up to the June 7 election, promising new spending on health care, home care, dental care, pharmacare and child care… the premier is promising to expand the new OHIP+ prescription drug program “to include other parts of the population.” … The premier added that there would be an expanded public dental program in next week’s fiscal blueprint.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
How does Canada’s health spending hold up to international scrutiny?
The notion that health spending is out of control and gobbling up too much of our tax dollars simply does not hold up to international scrutiny. What is more shocking, though, is how comparatively little Canada spends on social programs – 13 per cent of GDP, dead last. Denmark, by contrast, spends 27 per cent on social programs; even the hard-hearted U.S spends more, 16.7 per cent. This underscores the findings of a recent paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that showed Canada has systematically under-invested in social programs over the past three decades.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
National pharmacare is possible – but it won’t come easy
While a single, national plan would theoretically save money on drug purchases, it would also mean a large-scale shifting of costs from the private sector to the public sector – a net $7.3-billion annually… The single biggest impediment to pharmacare is the unwillingness of federal, provincial and territorial governments to absorb those costs and then increase taxes to pay the bill – even if the consumer comes out paying less in the long run.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Opioid addiction should be treated with prescribed medication when possible, new Canadian guideline says
The guideline… outlines a step-by-step approach that promotes the use of relatively inexpensive medication that reduces cravings for opioid drugs… opioid addiction should be treated as a chronic disease in doctors’ offices, similar to diabetes or hypertension. The guideline advises against detox programs that discharge patients after several days, with no further addiction treatment or medication to support recovery… at least 80 to 90 per cent of patients will relapse after discharge
Tags: crime prevention, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada needs a health-care moonshot — and now is the time
… four breakthrough technologies that are converging rapidly offer Canada a remarkable opportunity to transform its health-care system, dramatically increasing its quality and accessibility while exponentially decreasing its cost of care. Importantly, these technologies can also significantly enhance Canada’s health-care professionals and employees’ effectiveness in tackling their tough daily challenges.
Tags: economy, Health, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Bill Morneau sends a mixed message on national pharmacare
What’s irresponsible is preserving the current system, or amending it in a way that keeps drug costs uncommonly high (Canada has one of the highest per-capita rates of pharmaceutical spending in the OECD). Achieving universal coverage without government bulk-buying is likely to keep the cost curve straining upward… a wholesale reworking of Canada’s drug regime seems like a credible possibility. The Finance Minister should let his new pharmacare czar go where the evidence leads.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Morneau prefers a public-private pharmacare plan, but government health committee may disagree
… the only groups opposing a universal plan are those with skin in the game: private insurers, drug companies and pharmacists, who stand to lose if drug prices fall under a public plan… the House of Commons health committee prepares to table its own report on a national pharmacare program later this month, after nearly two years of study… it’s likely the committee members will recommend some form of universal plan, which could place them at odds with the finance minister’s vision
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Bill Morneau’s unwise decision to backtrack on pharmacare
When Canadian medicare was being debated in the 1960s, a similar division arose between those who wanted a full-scale universal program and those who, like Morneau today, merely wanted to fill in the gaps… eventually, the medicare universalists won. Both politically and logically their arguments simply made more sense.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Bill Morneau is wrong to rule out universal pharmacare
There will be no pharmacare “plan,” he said on Wednesday, but instead a pharmacare “strategy” that “deals with the gaps,” is “fiscally responsible” and “doesn’t throw out the system that we currently have.” True to his government’s preference for targeted over universal programs, the finance minister seemed to be saying that supplements to the current dysfunctional mess will have to suffice.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Budget takes small steps toward pharmacare, but path littered with financial, political land mines
It won’t mean that all drugs will be covered for all people at all times. To control costs, there has to be a formulary of drugs that are covered and policies like generic substitution (not covering brand-name drugs if similar, lower-cost generics are available.) Then there is the deal-breaker, money. Sure, pharmacare could save money, at least theoretically… if bulk buying can bring down prices 25 per cent, if use doesn’t increase notably, and if there is a strict formulary. Lots of ifs.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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