Soaring costs force Canada to reassess health model

[Psephos]

Source: Reuters

TORONTO (Reuters) – Pressured by an aging population and the need to rein in budget deficits, Canada's provinces are taking tough measures to curb healthcare costs, a trend that could erode the principles of the popular state-funded system.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, kicked off a fierce battle with drug companies and pharmacies when it said earlier this year it would halve generic drug prices and eliminate "incentive fees" to generic drug manufacturers. British Columbia is replacing block grants to hospitals with fee-for-procedure payments and Quebec has a new flat health tax and a proposal for payments on each medical visit -- an idea that critics say is an illegal user fee. And a few provinces are also experimenting with private funding for procedures such as hip, knee and cataract surgery.

<snip>

"There's got to be some change to the status quo whether it happens in three years or 10 years," said Derek Burleton, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank. "We can't continually see health spending growing above and beyond the growth rate in the economy because, at some point, it means crowding out of all the other government services. At some stage we're going to hit a breaking point."

<snip>

Scotia Capital's Webb said one cost-saving idea may be to make patients aware of how much it costs each time they visit a healthcare professional. "(The public) will use the services more wisely if they know how much it's costing," she said. "If it's absolutely free with no information on the cost and the information of an alternative that would be have been more practical, then how can we expect the public to wisely use the service?"

<snip>

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100531/hl_nm/us_health_3

[Skink]

1. Now is not time to cut back during this fragile recovery.

[gmoney]

2. Gee, think we'll be hearing about this much from Rush, etc?

[cyclezealot]

11. The problem with aging populations and health care costs

is they are old.. Happens regardless of what system is used to provide medical services.. Could adopt the US system.. Rationing or denial of services.

[cyclezealot]

12. The problem with aging populations and health care costs

is they are old.. Happens regardless of what system is used to provide medical services.. Could adopt the US system.. Rationing or denial of services.

[hay rick]

3. Missing from the story.

Canadians currently spend about 54% of what Americans spend on health care. Of course, they have to put up with universal coverage and longer life expectancies- but no system is perfect.

[rpannier]

5. Just Devastating

Must be tough to put up with that healthier and longer lived

[No Elephants]

14. Thanks. Funny how they forgot the details that put the story in proper perspective.

[Festivito]

19. And that would be 54% on a per capita basis. It was 3500/7200 or 48.6%.

I sure would prefer their problem.

[Proletariatprincess]

4. Canadians have been saying for years that the USA is undermining their health care system.

Now Canada has a rightest government....plays right into the hands of oligarchy in the USA.

[Andronex]

6. In the last federal (Canadian) budget...

In the last federal (Canadian) budget, the conservative Harper government gave 200 billion to the banks and Canada has only 10% of the US population, very few Canadian know this and it has not been reported in the media, so it's not for lack of money but it's a question of priority's...

[aquart]

9. The BP spill is what a conservative government gives a nation.

[No Elephants]

15. Thanks. Ain't it always a matter of priorities?

Even a decision to raise or not raise taxes is a matter of priorities.

[JHB]

7. "the popular state-funded system"

Gee, weren't we told about how Canadians came to the US in droves because they had such a lousy system? I guess now that the subject is cutbacks for the Canadian system and not reforms for ours, it's acceptable to call it "popular", eh?

[Demeter]

8. What Is The Purpose Of Government?

And what is so important that healthcare of the citizens must be cut back to pay for it?

Going to the doctor is not a recreational activity, even if it's no out-of-pocket cost.

[depakid]

10. Claire Sibonney, the author of this bogus hit piece is a "markets reporter"

based in Toronto. Prior to joining Reuters in 2005, Sibonney worked for AOL Canada and the National Post.

The National Post was established by Conrad Black "to provide a voice for Canadian conservatives and to combat what he considered to be a liberal bias in Canadian newspapers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Post

[cyclezealot]

13. Thanks for that information..

When taking a news story as the truth, the reader should do their own bit of research.. Being that the media is more often than not , it's own special interest group.

[No Elephants]

16. Thanks.

[SpiralHawk]

18. Ahhhh - right wing crapaganda

I suspected as much...

[Kolesar]

20. Conrad Black is currently incarcerated at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida, USA

also wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Black

[No Elephants]

17. Several telling posts on this thread. Also, I can attest to incredible waste and

overcharging in the U.S. health care system, but no one really wants to address those. Cutting services on patients across the board is just so much easier. And patients' lobbyists cannot compete wih lobbyists for Big "Health."

[Psephos]

21. It seems that many responders on this thread missed the main point.

The Canadian government runs its finances more soundly than many or even most Western social democracies. During the debates about how to implement a universal coverage system in the US, the Canadian approach was rightly offered as a good example.

The problem reported in this article is the same problem most Western social democracies are facing, regardless of which particular social service is under discussion. Aging populations, reduced reproduction rates, and a rising immigrant class that disproportionately consumes services (in relation to their tax contribution) are stressing the finances of the social net.

The financial assumptions for how to pay for broad services are increasingly invalid. New approaches must be found. Because Canada is financially prudent, it is choosing to acknowledge that simple fact earlier, rather than later, when options become dire.

One thing is clear: a lot of problems can be avoided by encouraging health-care consumers to practice good stewardship at the personal level. I highlighted one opinion on how to do that in the excerpt I posted. There are undoubtedly other, better ideas. Likewise, investments in "wellness" programs that can demonstrably avert later health issues deserve strong evaluation.

The issue is not whether to provide good, basic medical care for all. The issue is how to pay for it. Because the demographics are changing so profoundly, the old model is increasingly indistinguishable from a Ponzi scheme.

Personally, I find the histrionics that invariably accompany "discussions" about government health care to be obscurantist. I had hoped that with a Democratic House, Senate, and President, we could pass a single payer system of some sort. Although that was not to be, we do have a law now, and I want the best outcome from it. The Hatfields and McCoys are great at lobbing insults and invective at each other, but that only delays a sober and prudent analysis of how to best confront the looming demographic problems that will soon wash through the system.

Deficit-financing of services is pretty much the same as eating out nightly at restaurants on your VISA card when you can't pay anything but the minimum payment at the end of the month. Greece, Spain, and others on the European sick list are showing us why that won't work.

Perhaps Canada will show us what will work.