Canadians pride themselves on the universality of our health care system. Despite the obvious room for innovation and the need for improved health equity, we let out a sigh of relief because at least no one has to pay for care. Ever since the days of Tommy Douglas, Canadian governments have covered all medically necessary […]
Archives for July 2009
US President Obama lifts up non-profit sector, promises "new partnership" with federal government
“Solutions to America’s challenges are being developed every day at the grass roots – and government shouldn’t be supplanting those efforts, it should be supporting those efforts.” With those stirring words, US President Barack Obama announced “a new kind of partnership between government and the non-profit sector” in a speech on Tuesday at the White House […]
US Health Care Reform: An Update before the Speech
Canadians continue to watch with interest and concern as policy-makers in the United States debate how to best reform the US health care system. Canadians and the Canadian health care system have even been targeted in negative advertisements surrounding the potential reforms south of the border. The following is an update to my analysis (posted […]
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Toronto (and Ontario's) huge housing needs require a major provincial commitment
Do the math: Ontario housing minister Jim Watson's day-long commitment – along with members of his staff – to take up hammer and nails and help build 16 new homes as part of a charity build in Toronto underlines the urgent need for the provincial government to ramp up its housing efforts as it continues […]
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Three important Ontario housing facts: Highest housing costs, lowest provincial spending, worst municipal download
As the Ontario government’s province-wide consultations for a comprehensive provincial housing plan open the first of three sessions in Toronto this evening, here are three housing facts to consider: Highest housing costs: Ontario has the highest housing costs of any province (median household shelter costs of $10,878, according to Statistics Canada). One in every three […]
Privatizing health care services: my un-philosophical objection
According to the Vancouver Sun, new B.C. health minister Kevin Falcon doesn’t “have any philosophical objection” to patients being allowed to pay for faster access to medical services in private surgery clinics (http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Health+minister+says+private+ health+clinics+okay+with+limits/1729495/story.html). I don’t have a philosophical objection to it either. My objection is practical. If we allow health care procedures to be […]
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Pretty words, ugly implications: deconstructing the language of advocates of health care privatization
In my July 3rd blog posting, I was critical of B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon’s views on financial ability as a determinant of access to health care. Now, in an article in the Times Columnist entitled A prescription for the minister of health: ‘Individual choice’ is liberal code for a market-oriented system, Vancouver psychiatrist Dr. […]
President Obama’s News Conference on Health Care Reform
Yesterday, in an attempt to win over both the American public and political opponents (both Democratic and Republican) of ambitious health care reform, President Obama held a prime-time news conference. In the speech, he stated that proposed reforms would cover 97-98 percent of Americans and re-iterated that "health insurance reform will not add to our […]
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Pandemic Flu Planning through an Equity Lens
The possibility of an H1N1 pandemic is quite properly receiving a great deal of policy and health system attention. This is not just a question of system preparedness and monitoring; the potentially unequal impact of any pandemic needs to be addressed from the outset:
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New video documents health impact of poverty
Population Health: The New Agenda from Vancouver Coastal Health is a brilliant new video that documents the health impact of social determinants of health; or, in simple terms, why poor people get sick and die while higher-income people live longer and healthier lives. It provides a powerful complement to Poverty Is Making Us Sick, recent research […]
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