SecondStreet.org Communications Director Dom Lucyk writes in Juno News that waitlist deaths in B.C. are a bad sign for the rest of the country, and a tragedy of themselves.
Documentary: Health Reform Now Reference Materials – Health Reform NowHealth Reform Now includes citations from a number of sources in each section. If you would
SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig writes in the Financial Post that Pierre Poilievre should listen to Canadians and, if elected, make some changes in health care.
SecondStreet.org Communications Director Dom Lucyk writes in Business in Vancouver that B.C. should try to retain doctors and nurses within its borders.
SecondStreet.org Communications Director Dom Lucyk writes in the Regina Leader-Post that Saskatchewan should try to retain doctors and nurses within its borders.
SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig writes in The National Post that political leaders should consider that a majority of Canadians support health reform.
SecondStreet.org spoke with Todd Veinotte about our latest Died on a Waiting List report. Since 2019, we’ve been tracking how many Canadians died while waiting for surgery or a diagnostic scan. Unfortunately, the numbers reached a 4-year high in 2021-22.
Our Dom Lucyk writes in the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon Star Phoenix that Saskatchewan people are ready for health care reform.
SecondStreet.org spoke with Alex Pierson on 640 Toronto about our new data that shows at least 2.9 million Canadians are waiting for surgery, diagnostic scans, or to see a specialist.
SecondStreet.org spoke with Marc Patrone to discuss our new data that shows at least 2.9 million Canadians are on medical waitlists.
SecondStreet.org spoke with Alex Pierson about our new poll on health care reform.
We hired Leger to ask Canadians about four different options for reform: allowing people to pay for care at private clinics, having the government hire private clinics to reduce the surgical backlog, copying an EU policy to reduce waitlists, and making health ministers report how many people died due to long waitlists.
In each case, the majority of respondents were in favour of reform.
SecondStreet.org joined Global News Regina to discuss our new poll on health care reform.
We hired Leger to ask Canadians about four different options for reform: allowing people to pay for care at private clinics, having the government hire private clinics to reduce the surgical backlog, copying an EU policy to reduce waitlists, and making health ministers report how many people died due to long waitlists.
In each case, the majority of respondents were in favour of reform.
If Canadians lived healthier lives, we could reduce demand for emergency services, orthopaedic surgeries, primary care and more.
For instance, if you visit the Canadian Cancer Society’s website, you’ll read that “about four in ten” cancer cases are preventable. The Heart and Stroke Foundation notes that “almost 80 percent of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented through healthy behaviours.” A similar number of Diabetes cases are also preventable.
Many joint replacements and visits to ERs and walk-in clinics could also be avoided through healthy living.
To be sure, not all health problems can be avoided through healthy living – everyday the system treats Canadians with genetic conditions, helps those injured in unavoidable accidents and more.
But there is an opportunity to reduce pressure on the health care system through Canadians shifting to healthier lifestyles – better diets, more exercise, etc.
To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see this column.
European countries will partner with anyone who can help patients.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a non-profit, a government entity or a private clinic. What matters is that patients receive quality treatment, in a timely manner and for a competitive price.
In Canada, governments often delivery services using government-run hospitals instead of seeing if non-profit or private clinics could deliver the services more effectively.
When governments have partnered with non-profit and private clinics, the results have often been quite good – Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia are just a few examples of where partnerships have worked well.
Canada should pursue more of these partnerships to reduce wait times and increase the volume of services provided to patients.
To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see the links above.
In Canada, citizens pay high taxes each year and we’re promised universal health care services in return. The problem is, wait times are often extremely long in our health system – sometimes patients have to wait years to see a specialist or receive surgery.
If patients don’t want to wait long periods, they often have to reach into their own pocket and pay for treatment outside the province or country.
Throughout the European Union, we also find universal health care systems. But a key difference is that EU patients have the right to go to other EU countries, pay for surgery and then be reimbursed by their home government. Reimbursements cover up to what the patient’s home government would have spent to provide the treatment locally.
If Canada copied this approach, a patient waiting a year to get their hip operation could instead receive treatment next week in one of thousands of surgical clinics throughout the developed world.
Governments benefit too as the patient is now back on their feet and avoiding complications that sometimes come with long wait times – meaning the government doesn’t have to treat those complications on top of the initial health problem.
To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or this shorter video.
Canada is the only country in the world that puts up barriers, or outright bans patients from paying for health services locally.
For instance, a patient in Toronto cannot pay for a hip operation at a private clinic in Toronto. Their only option is to wait for the government to eventually provide treatment or leave the province and pay elsewhere.
Countries with better-performing universal health care systems do not have such bans. They allow patients a choice – use the public system or pay privately for treatment. Sweden, France, Australia and more – they all allow choice.
Why? One reason is that allowing choice means some patients will decide to pay privately. This takes pressure off the public system. For instance, in Sweden, 87% of patients use the public system, but 13% purchase private health insurance.
Ultimately, more choice improves access for patients.
To learn more, watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or watch this short clip on this topic.
In Canada, most hospitals receive a cheque from the government each year and are then asked to do their best to help patients. This approach is known as “block funding”.
Under this model, a patient walking in the door represents a drain on the hospital’s budget. Over the course of a year, hospital administrators have to make sure the budget stretches out so services are rationed. This is why you might have to wait until next year or the year after for a hip operation, knee operation, etc.
In better-performing universal health systems, they take the opposite approach – hospitals receive money from the government each time they help a patient. If a hospital completes a knee operation, it might receive, say, $10,000. If it completes a knee operation on another patient, it receives another $10,000.
This model incentivizes hospitals to help more patients – to help more patients with knee operations, cataract surgery, etc. This approach also incentivizes hospitals to spend money on expenses that help patients (e.g. more doctors, nurses, equipment, etc.) rather than using the money on expenses that don’t help patients (e.g. more admin staff).
To learn more about this policy option, please watch our Health Reform Now documentary (scroll up) or see this post by MEI.
