The Canadian Health Coalition has really good, reader friendly, info on our health care system and some of the background of big Pharma Companies. For example, did you know that Canadians spent $21 billion in prescriptions in 2007. This was more than the money spent in 2007 on all doctor services in Canada. With our aging population you can bet the big Pharma Companies are seeing big pots of gold!
Be informed...the report is below.
Love and All Good Things,
The Peaceful Matriarch
Here is the report and the initial email from the Canadian Health Coalition:
From: Michael McBane
Date: November 25, 2010 7:22:01 AM MST
Subject: [Privatization] New Campaign targeting the Canada Health Act
There is now a campaign to "suspend" the CHA for 5 years to allow for "experimentation" (i.e. commercialization and illegal billing).
The Fraser Institute released a report this week (article below).
There is also a web site featuring 'Mad' Max Bernier and others:
http://policymatters.ca/tag/the-canada-health-act/
Policymatters is a web site run by a biopharmaceutical company, Amgen Canada.
-Mike
______________________
Easing enforcement of the health act would allow experimentation: Report
By Neil Haesler and Rebecca Lindell, Postmedia NewsNovember 24, 2010
Suspending enforcement of the Canada Health Act to allow provinces to experiment with health insurance policies could result in new funding measures, according to a report released Wednesday by the Fraser Institute.
Suspending enforcement of the Canada Health Act to allow provinces to experiment with health insurance policies could result in new funding measures, according to a report released Wednesday by the Fraser Institute.
According to the think-tank's report, suspending enforcement of the act for a five-year trial would allow provinces to experiment with new policies such as patient cost-sharing, private competition and private medical insurance.
"A temporary suspension of federal enforcement of the Canada Health Act would give provinces the opportunity to experiment with cost-sharing, a greater role for private financing, competition, and consumer choice here in Canada. This in turn, would ultimately lead to innovation and improved access to care for all Canadians, just as it has for other countries in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)," the report states.
"Any chance of meaningful reform in Canadian health insurance is effectively hobbled by the outdated Canada Health Act, which forbids many of the successful policies used in other countries," said Mark Rovere, the Fraser Institute's associate director of health policy esearch and co-author of the report, Value for Money from Health Insurance Systems in Canada and the OECD.
Rovere said in a news release that the majority of countries within the OECD experiment with new policies on an ongoing basis.
"By taking a temporary time out on enforcing the act, provincial governments would have the option to experiment with new policies without fear of financial penalties. The trial period would allow us to test different options to improve the delivery and accessibility of health care for ordinary Canadians by emulating the policies used in other countries," Rovere said.
The report says many countries within the OECD have health-insurance systems that include variations of three policies that are either limited or outlawed under the Canada Health Act:
- Some form of consumer/patient cost-sharing for the use of publicly funded hospital care, general practitioner care, and/or specialist care;
- Medical care is financed through some form of social insurance where individuals and employers make direct and significant contributions to premiums;
- Private for-profit hospitals are permitted to bill public insurers for services.
But the office of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq's office said in a statement it would not suspend the act.
"The Canada Health Act is the law of the land. We expect the provinces and territories to abide by the act. We have increased (fund) transfers to provinces and territories by six per cent per year so that they continue to meet the health-care needs of their residents," read the statement.
Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, president of the Canadian Medical Association called the idea "a step backwards for Canadians and their health care.
"The risk is that you will end up with a series of different systems across Canada as patients move across this country, as doctors move across this country, and as illnesses, frankly move across this country, it's going to be more and more difficult to look at a national perspective and national standards," he said.
He added that the act is not enforced adequately at present and some jurisdictions are already acting outside of it.
"What we need to do, rather than suspending the Canada Health Act, I think we need to be strengthening the national focus on health and making sure the actual principles are actually adhered to. Frankly, there's lots of opportunities to be innovative in our health-care system right now without suspending the Canada Health Act," he said.
It's a position being echoed by Saskatchewan's doctors.
"Rather than suspending enforcement of the Canada Health Act, we should be exploring innovative methods of service delivery to achieve quality, efficient health care for the patient within an affordable and sustainable publicly funded system," said Dr. Guruswamy Sridhar, president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association.
In British Columbia, doctors are already working under the health act's current parameters to find cost-saving innovations, said Ian Gillespie, president of the B.C. Medical Association.
While Gillespie said he supports finding the "best value for the health-care dollar," the suggestion to suspend the enforcement of the health act is unfeasible.
"I can understand that that would give the opportunity to develop some market share for some new approaches to health care, but what would you do with those approaches at the end of that time if they were in violation of the health-care principles."
Rovere and co-author Brent Skinner compared the performance of health-care systems in 28 OECD countries, including Canada.
The study examined national health spending as a percentage of GDP, 18 indicators of medical resource availability and output of medical services, and the funding mechanisms of each country's health-insurance system.
Rovere said the study found that Canada is the only OECD country where private, comprehensive medical insurance is illegal.
"As a result, governments control the growth in public health spending by capping health-care budgets and effectively rationing medical services, causing longer waits for medical treatments, and limited availability of the latest medical technologies," the release said.
"The provinces have no incentives to experiment with alternative methods of financing health care because of federal enforcement of the Canada Health Act."
Skinner and Rovere recommend the moratorium start as soon as possible to allow provinces to at least try some of the things that have successful in other countries.© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
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