privatization « Social Policy in Ontario

Posts Tagged ‘privatization’

Canada has in fact achieved universal drug insurance coverage

Saturday, August 12th, 2023

People in the lowest income deciles are eligible for public safety-net coverage at zero or very low costs. People in the highest income deciles are covered when prescription drug costs exceed 3 per cent to 7 per cent of family income, depending on the jurisdiction. Typically, private drug plans use deductibles and copayments and end up insuring about 80 per cent of prescription costs.

Tags: economy, Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

97 per cent of Canadians have drug coverage and other lies drug manufactures are pushing

Monday, July 31st, 2023

In reality, millions of Canadians are uninsured for the medicines they need… Those lucky enough to have coverage often still face sizable deductibles and copayments… one in 10 Canadians skips prescriptions because of out-of-pocket costs. This makes patients sicker and generates at least $1 billion annually in preventable demand for medical and hospital care… it is high-cost medicines that are putting workplace health benefits at risk.

Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Nightmarish Commercial Simply Wrong: Healthcare Outsourcing is not Privatization

Friday, July 14th, 2023

The government of Ontario should think about how to contract for insured services with private clinics without causing staffing problems for traditional providers, but should begin experimenting with this model in the specialties and places where the prospects seem most promising. And it should carefully monitor outcomes.

Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

While Ford pampers spa users, our school kids fend for themselves

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

The government’s miserly approach to funding our children’s education seems curious in such a rich province… The government is actually swimming in money — even as it hollows out key public programs, underfunding schools, shutting down hospital emergency wards and doing nothing for the homeless beyond allowing developers to build ever more condos that are quickly sold to high-income buyers… The notion that we can’t afford a strong public sector has always been a scam.

Tags: budget, featured, Health, homelessness, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »

Time to end violations of Canada Health Act with illegal fees for service

Sunday, May 28th, 2023

…Bill 60… expressly enables the transfer of surgeries and diagnostics from public hospitals to for-profit clinics… We categorically do not need private clinics to cut surgical wait times. Virtually every public hospital has operating rooms that are closed evenings, overnight and on weekends. They should be funded and staffed to open to full capacity to clear backlogs.

Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, rights
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »

Private health care in Alta. is harming the public system – new report

Friday, May 19th, 2023

The expansion of private health care in Alberta has lead to longer wait times in the public system and fewer surgeries overall… The rest of Canada, and especially Ontario, should pay close attention to what Parkland has to tell us about the validity of the idea of resorting to the private sector to cut healthcare wait times. The bottom line is that the private health care appears to be a false Messiah when it claims it can miraculously cure what ails our public health system.

Tags: budget, featured, Health, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

What the end of the Cambie legal saga means for public health care

Thursday, May 11th, 2023

The principles of the Canada Health Act remain intact. However, many provinces and corporate interests have recalibrated their strategy to undermine public health care. Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are entrenching for-profit interests by outsourcing surgeries to investor-owned facilities. This undermines hospital staffing and ability to provide timely care. Some for-profit clinics have engaged in unlawful extra-billing, entrenching two-tier health care.

Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »

‘The greatest Machiavellian fraud’: Ontario’s bitter fight over what became OHIP

Wednesday, May 10th, 2023

… the provincial government kept sending signals that it wanted no part of the federal medicare plan scheduled to begin in mid-1968. In November 1967, provincial treasurer Charles MacNaughton mused about opting out and using federal medicare contributions to tackle issues the Robarts government felt were more pressing, such as education and housing. A combination of OMSIP and existing private plans, many believed, was good enough for Ontarians.

Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, privatization
Posted in Health History | No Comments »

Preventive health care: Why privately funded programs are reluctant to fund it

Monday, May 8th, 2023

Within a publicly funded care model, there is a vested interest to mandate and fund preventative health measures as government payers are accountable for sustainable health care budgets. Recognizing that early prevention can reduce costs down the road, governments are more willing to pay for screening services for patients at risk… the ability to predict the individual risk of patients using artificial intelligence is incredibly exciting in the health care space.

Tags: Health, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »

Eyes on Ontario after BC slams door on for-profit plasma collection

Wednesday, April 26th, 2023

Supporters of Canada’s safe, voluntary blood system are concerned that paying plasma donors, as Grifols does, could undermine essential voluntary blood donations and take advantage of economically disadvantaged people.