IT'S TIME FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

A short course on brain surgery

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:36 am Post subject:

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A short course on brain surgery

Ontario Premier Mike Harris has compared workers who will lose their jobs because of the closing of some Toronto hospitals to those who had to find new employment after the Hula-Hoop craze died down in the early 1960s.

"Just as Hula-Hoops went out and those workers had to have a factory and a company that would manufacture something else that's in, it's the same in government, and you know, governments have put off these decisions for so many years that restructuring sometimes is painful," Mr. Harris told reporters yesterday on his way into a cabinet meeting.

The CSR reform package was markedly neo-liberal in nature, closely mirroring the platforms of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. Philosophically it was aligned with the theories of prominent 20th century economist and political theorist Friedrich A. von Hayek. In fact, during Harris' time in office, political staff at Queen's Park - the provincial seat of government - were known to keep copies of Hayek's seminal work The Road to Serfdom on hand in their offices.

The central foci of the CSR were tax reduction, balancing the budget, reducing the size and role of government, and an emphasis on individual economic responsibility (often summarized by an opposition to government hand-outs). Among other things Harris promised to reduce personal income tax rates by 30% and balance the provincial budget at the same time (which had reached a record $10 Billion deficit under the NDP).

The CSR was specifically tailored as a reform document. It was presented as a radical change to the status quo of provincial government business, which was widely seen to be poorly managed and inefficient. Indeed, the opening words of the document were "The people of Ontario have a message for their politicians -- government isn't working anymore. The system is broken."

Speaking at the same meeting, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell of the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges echoed the views of many physicians when he placed a large part of the blame for the current situation on the 10% cut in first-year enrolment made in 1993-94 in response to a recommendation contained in a comprehensive report on medical resource policy that we prepared in 1991 for the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health.2

The recommendation at that time was to stabilize the physician supply in relation to the size of the population, with adjustments to medical school enrolment being but one component of the supply-stabilization policy package. There were more than 50 additional recommendations covering all aspects of medical training and practice.

Nevertheless, medical school enrolment became one of the very few recommendations acted upon. It was implemented despite our explicit warning that in an area as complex as physician services, complementary policies would need to be adopted simultaneously.

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Human Rights Groups Accused of Undermining Capitalism

Traditional human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are pursuing an ideology opposed to free market capitalism and undermining the changes necessary to spread liberty around the world.

Can we make a trade?

it is simply a fact that a single payer, government directed health care system in Canada or anywhere else must inevitable operate without the supply/demand feedback signals & forces inherent in a free market.

While I claim no knowledge of the details of the financial restructuring being undertaken by the current government in Canada, it is simply a fact that a single payer, government directed health care system in Canada

Canada does not have a single payer system.

georgeob1 wrote:

While I claim no knowledge of the details of the financial restructuring being undertaken by the current government in Canada, it is simply a fact that a single payer, government directed health care system in Canada

Canada does not have a single payer system.

It's called universal health care. There are private insurers, provincial and federal and municipal self-insureds, public insurers, and private self-insureds. You're required to have coverage, but there are a lot of ways to get it.

georgeob1 wrote:

it is simply a fact that a single payer, government directed health care system in Canada or anywhere else must inevitable operate without the supply/demand feedback signals & forces inherent in a free market.

I don't know. That depends on the level of integration, I would think. For example, even if you have a completely state run single payer system where even hospitals are run by the government, you still have certain supply/demand feedback forces. Pay doctors less money, and you're likely to end up with less doctors. (I admit the obvious antithesis to this is the American model, where doctors earn more than anywhere in the world, and you still have less doctors per capita than virtually any other developed country.)
Same goes for the price of drugs - unless you're willing to integrate pharmaceutical companies into the state run system.
And finally, you have some feedback in the level of taxes you impose. Even if most citizens or even companies won't leave or move to a country simply because of the taxes for health care, you will inevitably feel some effect.

I think you're thinking too much in terms of a completely state run economy instead of just the health care system. In fact, if you look at the American model, you have a system that is not universal, but has arguably more aspects of a socialized system (through Medicare, Medigap, Medicaid etc.) than countries where the government stays completely outside of the health care sector and merely makes health care mandatory.

Of course these countries have other programmes to provide financial support to individuals and families with low incomes, but, at least in theory, they get the money from the government and then, in turn, spend the money on their health insurance. No state involvement needed. Still a universal system.

It's called universal health care. There are private insurers, provincial and federal and municipal self-insureds, public insurers, and private self-insureds. You're required to have coverage, but there are a lot of ways to get it.

But does that mean that there are different insurance companies that eventually pay for your health care?

I'd say that a "single payer health care" is a system where payment for doctors, hospitals and other providers for health care come from a single fund. As far as I understand the Canadian system, the government pays for almost 100% of hospital and physician care. Not true?

Private insurance is provided on a complementary basis and covers mainly dental care, prescription drugs, paramedical services, orthotic devices and prostheses, ambulance costs, private or semi-private rooms and emergency care obtained outside of Quebec; it also covers insurance for visitors to Canada and for new residents, travel insurance, critical illness insurance and long-term care insurance. It represents about 12% of the health costs in Canada.

Private insurance is complementary to public plans and offers its products to citizens who want an alternative to the necessity of paying out of pocket for services not covered by the public system; today private insurance, especially in its group form, touches two-thirds of Canadians. Private insurance mitigates the absence or withdrawal of public plans, and we intend to maintain our complementary role with the public system.

The financing of health care in Canada is divided as follows for each dollar spent:
• 60 cents by public insurance plans set up by the provinces;
● 15 cents directly from the pockets of citizens;
● 13 cents by public programs other than insurance (including direct spending by the Federal government),private programs (such as hospital foundations) and public or private research programs; and,
● 12 cents by complementary health insurance plans obtained on a group or individual basis from a private insurer.