A federal surplus is costing us medicare Adrienne Silnicki
National Coordinator Canadian Health Coalition
Slide 2
Medicare firsts in Saskatchewan First Municipal doctor in North
America, 1915 First Municipal doctor in legislation in North
America, 1916 First Municipal hospital legislation in Canada, 1916
First travelling TB clinics, 1923 First universal testing and
treatment for TB, 1929 First cancer control agency in Canada, 1930
First government-sponsored cancer clinics in North America, 1930
First statistically controlled BCG vaccination among newborn
aboriginal infants, 1932-1949 First legislation in Canada to allow
personal taxation for health purposes, 1934
Slide 3
Medicare firsts in Saskatchewan (continued) First BCG
vaccination among student nurses, 1934-1943 First province with
sufficient beds (three per TB death), 1942 Lowest TB rate in Canada
First in North America: Saskatchewans Cancer Control Act, 1944
First comprehensive health plan for pensioners and widows, 1945
First comprehensive health care and the first comprehensive
hospital plan in North America, 1946 First province to provide
capital grants for hospital construction, 1945 First full-time
cancer physicist, 1945 First region in Canada to combine public
health with medical care, 1946
Slide 4
Medicare firsts in Saskatchewan (continued) First concerted
clinical use of the betatron in the world, 1949 First regional
hospital board in Canada, 1951 First use of calibrated cobalt-60 in
the world, 1951 First universal medicare in North America, 1962
4
Slide 5
Starting point: Public is best Only financially sustainable
model Safest Most just- provides care to everyone
Slide 6
Slide 7
Private Care is Unsustainable
Slide 8
CIHI, 2012
Slide 9
According to several studies by Dr. PJ Deveraux, you are more
likely to die in for-profit hospitals than public, not-for-profit
ones 9 Public health care is safer
Slide 10
Private-for-profit health care costs more and delivers less 1.
Takes health workers out of public system 2. Shortages get worse
and wait lists get longer 3. Charges user-fees for insured services
4. Undermines access in rural and remote areas 5. Sells
queue-jumping 6. Increase death rates 7. Provide lower quality
services 8. Only treats low-risk patients- cherry picking 9. Sells
unnecessary and harmful procedures
Slide 11
Slide 12
Medicare Works
Slide 13
I would favour the elimination of all for-profit facilities and
health care businesses. The facts are that no one has ever shown,
in fair, accurate comparisons, that for-profit makes for greater
efficiency or better quality, and certainly have never shown that
it serves the public interest any better. Never. Markets can't
solve problems like health care and, in fact, make them worse.You
must not allow investors in to the delivery system. They will ruin
your health are system as they have the American system. - Dr.
Arnold Relman, Prof. Emeritus, Harvard Medical School
Slide 14
Health Care and Harper
Slide 15
Overview Federal changes 2013-2014 Provincial impact and fight
backs 2013-2014 Solutions How do we win?
Slide 16
Health care is a provincial and federal responsibility Guardian
Funder Regulator Provider Coordinator
Slide 17
Changes to federal policy Federal government abandoned and
jettisoned onto provinces: - Refugee Health Care - Long-term care
for veterans - RCMP health care
Slide 18
Cuts to Federal Health Care Research Health Council of Canada
Health Canada library Health Canada library changes leave
scientists scrambling Main Health Canada research library closed,
access outsourced to retrieval company By Laura Payton, Max Paris,
CBC News Posted: Jan 20, 2014 5:00CBC News
Slide 19
The Loss of a Health Accord $36 billion lost from Canada Health
Transfer No equalization payments No adjustment for aging
populations No national standards Longer wait times No new
pan-Canadian programs like: pharmacare, home and community care,
dental care, or mental health care
Slide 20
The loss of $36 billion by 2024 Total cut in funding over 10
years: $36 billion
Slide 21
Saskatchewan
Slide 22
Nova Scotia $902 million
Slide 23
New Brunswick $715
Slide 24
Ontario $14 billion
Slide 25
ALBERTA $4 billion
Slide 26
British Columbia $5 billion $497,000 to patients $66,000 to
patients and MSI for the same service (double billing) took the BC
government to court arguing doctors should be able to bill whatever
the free market will allow
Slide 27
Federal Surplus
Slide 28
New Trade Agreements: CETA and TPP $865 million- $1.65 billion
annually will be added to the cost of medicines by CETA alone
(CCPA, 2013)
Slide 29
New Health Minister
Slide 30
We have the solutions, we now need to implement them
Slide 31
1. Stop and reverse privatization 31
Slide 32
Privatization Reversals: Alberta MRI clinics: -saved
radiologists, money, quality, capacity & safety Cancer care
Ontario: -saved $500 per procedure Ontario MRI clinics: -saved
radiologists, money, quality, capacity & safety Winnipeg Pan Am
Clinic: -saved $300 per cataract procedure Prince Albert regional
laboratory: -saved $400,000 annually
Slide 33
Public Innovation 33
Slide 34
Reduced consultation waiting time by 85 % to less than six
weeks from 35 weeks Slashed surgery waiting time by 90 % to less
than five weeks from 47 weeks Cut the length of stay in hospital by
almost one-third to 4.3 days from 6.2 days. Patients are more
engaged in their treatment, Importantly, patient recovery is
faster. The same dollars provided faster, more satisfying
care.
Slide 35
2. Expand public health care
Slide 36
Slide 37
Universal Pharmacare would save $11.7 billion per year And
everyone could access the medicines they need
Slide 38
Home and Community Care Grace Denyer, 2012 But two weeks later,
owner Karen Cazemier asked for a 43-per-cent increase in fees. The
new monthly bill: $5,000 Edmonton Journal, 2012 Woman with
dementia, 80, dumped at ER, ICI Radio Canada, 2012
Slide 39
Investor-owned nursing homes provide worse care and less
nursing care than do not-for- profit or public homes. - American
Journal of Public Health, 2001
Slide 40
Solutions 1.Recruit & retain more health professionals in
the public system. 2.Fix wait time problems within the public
system. 3.Expand Medicare to include pharmacare, home and community
care, dental and mental health care. 4.Stop contracting out
hospital support services. 5.Improve health care delivery. 6.Keep
people healthy in the first place. 7.Enforce the Canada Health Act
and stop two-tier health care.
Slide 41
How do we win?
Slide 42
1. Join the Campaign! Sign up at healthcoalition.ca
healthcoalition.ca 2. Get informed 3. Talk to your family, friends
& co-workers 4. Meet or write your local MP during National
Medicare Week (November 23-29)