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Who benefits from corporate health care? Not Canadians

Homepage Commentary Who benefits from corporate health care? Not Canadians
Commentary

Who benefits from corporate health care? Not Canadians

February 22, 2023
By Pat Van Horne
0 Comment
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There’s big money to be made in health care, but Canadians will be the losers if corporatization and profit erode our universal, public system.

Economist Armine Yalnizyan and Canadian Health Coalition board member Pat Armstrong (professor emeritus, York University) say Canada’s universal, publicly-funded health care system is threatened by for-profit delivery of care and new ownership of those profits.

In a recent Toronto Star opinion piece, Yalnizyan and Armstrong said venture capital, private equity and foreign direct investment are exploding in the field of health care.

“Why? They offer rock-steady returns and growth, paid by taxpayers, for the next few decades due to population aging. The Canada Health Act does not protect us from this.”

The authors stress that the Canada Health Act is founded on strong principles and stipulates that no extra fees be charged for medically-necessary care provided by doctors and hospitals.

“But the act doesn’t cover publicly-funded services beyond doctors and hospitals,” say Armstrong and Yalnizyan. They note that ambulatory health care, home care, long-term care, temporary agencies and virtual care have been taken up by private-sector, corporate interests.

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“We are told to welcome, not fear, more for-profit care; that more care, from any source, is the cure for what ails us. This claim is neither new or true. Decades of evidence, from Canada and abroad, shows this approach wastes money and provides inferior care.”

The authors reject corporate control using taxpayer dollars.

“Innovate within the public sector, with specialized clinics and virtual care,” they say. “Provide health care workers better pay and more control over their schedules.”

Armstrong and Yalnizyan say the corporatization of health care must be stopped. “Those responsible for our care must do everything possible to stop it from spreading.”


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Pat Van Horne represents the United Steelworkers on the Canadian Health Coalition’s Board of Directors. She compiles the weekly Health files for the coalition’s e-newsletter.
Tags: Privatization

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Wednesday, 14, May
Meet your new minister of health: Marjorie Michel
Tuesday, 13, May
Without mental health and substance use care, Canada’s health care system is not universal
Tuesday, 13, May
Study says private clinics are selling patient data to big pharma
Wednesday, 7, May
Carney to announce new health minister next week
Wednesday, 7, May
Pharmacare must expand as Trump’s tariffs threaten prescription drug access in Canada
Tuesday, 6, May
Research roundtable to examine Canada’s health care profitization problem

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