While well-intentioned, changes to Patented Medicine Prices Review Board could stop companies from launching new drugs
By Dr. Nigel Rawson and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute In a speech in May, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott talked about rising prescription drug prices and announced the launch of consultations on proposed changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) designed “to protect Canadians from excessive drug prices.” The proposed changes may…
The consistent lengthening of wait times for treatment makes us sometimes forget our system forces people to suffer while waiting for timely access to care
For more than two decades, the Fraser Institute has annually surveyed specialist physicians across Canada to estimate how long patients wait for treatment. The latest results are distressing. Our survey found that in 2016, overall, patients waited 20 weeks from referral from a family doctor to treatment – the longest wait in our survey’s history and 115 per…
The Canadian Institute for Health Information annual tracking of waits for priority procedures is a reminder of how little has changed and how far we have to go
The Canadian Institute for Health Information’s annual tracking of wait times for priority procedures is out and the news is not good. Contrary to the CIHI news release’s sugar-coated headline that “Most Canadians receive priority procedures within medically acceptable wait times,” the report is actually another reminder of how little has changed and how far…
To retain the promise of universal health care that Canadians cherish, we must change the way we attempt to deliver it
Whether you ask physicians or patients, the answer is the same – Canada is failing to provide timely access to medical care. The U.S.-based Commonwealth Fund, in conjunction with the Canadian Institute of Health Information, just published the results of their health policy survey of adults in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand,…
Wait times have become the defining characteristic of our health system, but still we argue about methodology rather than seeking solutions
If you leave a medical condition untreated for too long, it can turn into a debilitating chronic condition. Most Canadians know these circumstances all too well, and it's time the rest got on board. For too long, we have failed to address the fundamental causes of wait times for medical treatment in Canada, and they…
If the government is serious about sparking innovation and change, it should finish the work of transfer reform begun by the Chretien Liberals
By Ben Eisen Jason Clemens and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute In the 1990s, Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s Liberals reduced the amount of money it sent to the provinces to help fund provincial welfare programs but, in return, gave the provinces greater freedom to design and implement their own welfare programs. The success of these…
The reality is that for-profit provision of health-care services is commonplace among industrialized countries with universal health care
By Bacchus Barua and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute For almost two decades, fear of a U.S.-style system has fuelled opposition to genuine reform of Canadian health care. Many of those same opposition voices are now protesting the constitutional challenge to Canada’s health regulations by the former head of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Brian…
Canada ranks among the most expensive universal health-care systems but has fewer medical resources and some of the longest wait times
By Bacchus Barua Steve Lafleur and Ben Eisen The Fraser Institute In a recent speech to the Canadian Medical Association, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott acknowledged what few politicians seem willing to recognize – that Canada’s health-care system is in desperate need of repair and more money isn’t the answer. Crucially, Philpott also provided some…
An average family of four pays $11,494 each year. For perspective, average wait times for treatment is 18.3 weeks
By Bacchus Barua and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute An interesting quirk of Canada’s public health-care system is that no one really knows how much they pay for it. The constant reminders about health care consuming 40 per cent of provincial budgets (on average) certainly disabuse any notion that health care is “free.” However, odds are…
The provincial government has no option but to implement meaningful health-care policy reforms
By Bacchus Barua and Ben Eisen The Fraser Institute It’s no secret Alberta’s provincial government is in a fiscal hole. Alberta is expected to run a big budget deficit this year and rack up tens of billions of dollars in debt over the next few years. If the provincial government wants to get Alberta’s financial…
By Dr. Nigel Rawson and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute In a speech in May, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott talked about rising prescription drug prices and announced the launch of consultations on proposed changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) designed “to protect Canadians from excessive drug prices.” The proposed changes may…
