NDP wants contraceptives and diabetes medicine in pharmacare
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
NDP wants contraceptives and diabetes medicine in pharmacare
“They’ve not committed fully to diabetes and that’s why we are putting that on the table now,” Mr. Singh said. The NDP Leader did not offer more specifics on what medications were being discussed but said that Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals “know what we want.” “We’re expecting the government to do that; to make sure people no longer have to worry about the cost of diabetes medication and that there will be legislation that lays the foundation for universal pharmacare,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told the Globe and Mail, February 21, 2024
1 in 4 skipping meds, not filling prescriptions
“I think that one of the challenges we have is that we have a universal health-care system, and yet we’re the only country with that universal health-care system that doesn’t have a pharmacare program,” said Stuart Edmonds, executive vice-president of mission research and advocacy with the Canadian Cancer Society, Global News, February 15, 2024
Health is not just about adding more doctors, says B.C. report
“Medical care doesn’t even account for a quarter of what makes us healthy … our health begins where we’re born, grow, live, work and age . . .And that means when we can’t access affordable and safe homes, when we can’t access quality child care … those are the things that are going to make us get injured or fall sick and have us needing more time in our clinics and our emergency rooms. . . We’ve been growing the medical side disproportionately, but leaving the investments in child care slower, in housing slower, in poverty reduction slower . . . Solving the affordability crisis is as much a health issue as it is a wallet issue,” said Dr. Paul Kershaw, co-author of Health is More Than Medical Care, a report by B.C. non-profit Generation Squeeze, CBC News, February 19, 2024
Public spending on private temporary nurses soaring in Newfoundland-Labrador
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador spent $35.6-million on agency nurses from April to August of last year, up from average of just over $1-million annually before the pandemic.
“What’s even more insulting is that the government is paying this money for travel nurses, but the profit is going to private companies,” said Lela Evans, health critic for the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP, Globe and Mail, February 20, 2024
Accountability framework led by the federal government needed in long-term care
“The provinces and territories, with primary jurisdiction for health care, do not want to be ‘accountable’ to the federal government, even though the federal government channels billions of Canadian taxpayer dollars to them. However, they should be accountable to their own populations. The only way Canadians can learn what works and what doesn’t from each region, no matter their differences, is if the data are comparable—this is a legitimate role for the federal government. . .No provincial/territorial government wants to be shown to have poor performance in any area of its jurisdiction, certainly including health care. In a phrase, ‘why shoot the messenger if instead you can prevent there ever being a messenger?’ . . . We take for granted in other areas—such as GDP, unemployment, and inflation—that there are ample underlying data enabling a dissection of the observed trends. We deserve the same for LTC. It’s long past time the federal government used all its constitutional powers,” said Michael Wolfson, PhD former assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada and co-author of the Royal Society of Canada report, Repair and Recovery in Long-term Care in The Hill Times.
Manitoba and Ottawa sign funding deal
“This is going to be a great injection of funding into our health-care system, and I will tell you that for me, retention of nurses in the system is extremely important, and I think that utilization of some of these funds to do that is going to be key to keep everyone in the system,” said Darlene Jackson, president Manitoba Nurses Union, Winnipeg Free Press, February 15, 2024
Stop the “tapeworm economy”: Armine Yalnizyan
“The late Monique Bégin pushed the Canada Health Act through a fractious Parliament in 1984 to stop user fees on publicly insured medical services. Today’s privatization challenge presents a bigger dare: falling access to care while more public funds flow to investors. . . Every day, the tapeworm economy grows. The escalating profitization of care gobbles up funds that could improve care. If our appetite for care doesn’t eclipse corporate appetite for profit, we’ll become a very weak society indeed. . . We need legislative reform that prevents the further erosion of access to care while public funds enrich — and embolden — private investors . . . We need a modern-day Monique Bégin, and we need her now. Who’s up for the fight?” said Armine Yalnizyan, a leading Canadian economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers and a freelance contributing columnist in the Toronto Star. Follow her on X/Twitter: @ArmineYalnizyan. You can write to her at ayalnizyan@atkinsonfoundation.ca.
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