Premier Nova Scotia wants to allow more private competition in health care

Rodney MacDonald, Nova Scotia's Premier, should be applauded for his openness to a greater role for private competition in health care.
In his recent state-of-the-province address, he said specifically that the provincial government was moving towards a greater role for the private sector in the delivery of publicly funded health services.

For far too long, Canada has been out of step with the rest of the industrialized world in its steadfast opposition to tapping into the competitive market for solutions to our health care woes, to the detriment of both patients and taxpayers alike.

Consider for a moment what Canadians receive in return for this steadfast commitment to the status quo.
Among the 28 developed nations that have universal health insurance programs, Canada ranks third in age-adjusted health care spending as a percentage of GDP.

At the same time, Canadians endure relatively poor access to physicians and medical technologies, while wait times for health care in Canada are not just unacceptably long but are among the longest in the developed world.
Perhaps a closer look at why other countries are getting more for less is in order.

Among the world’s 28 most developed nations that have universal health insurance coverage like Canada, the majority allow private providers to deliver publicly funded services.

All of the nations that outperform Canada across several measures of mortality related to health system performance (Australia, Sweden and Japan) employ private competitive providers in the delivery of publicly funded health care.

Allowing private hospitals to compete for the delivery of publicly funded care is a proven policy that would improve the state of Medicare for all Canadians.

Premier MacDonald’s willingness to sit down and take an honest look at those policies that have worked so well elsewhere in the developed world, bodes well for both patients and taxpayers in Nova Scotia.

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Alberta might eliminate health premiums

It's for the first time Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is talking about the possibility of eliminating health care premiums as part of his party’s next election platform.

Even though Alberta has been awash in surplus cash for years, the Progressive Conservative government has resisted the idea of dropping health premiums, which only exist in three provinces.
But now Stelmach is signaling that a policy change may be in the works for premiums, which cost $1,056 per year for families and $528 for singles.

Earlier this week Ontario's premier McGuinty announced that despite soaring government revenues, health tax is not going to be scrapped for Ontarians. (read related article here)

“The revenue is close to $1 billion,” he told The Canadian Press in a year-end interview.
“There are a number of ideas coming forward from people that are looking at developing policy positions for the campaign. But we’re far from making any kind of decisions.”

Health Minister Dave Hancock said he has been talking to government caucus members for months about how the province can eliminate or at least reduce health premiums for some people.
Hancock says he would like to see the province create incentives for people to lead healthy lifestyles. "Whether we collect it as a premium or we collect it as tax, we should give people credit for the things that they do to remain healthy," he said Wednesday in an interview.

The message to Albertans would be: "We can take health-care premiums off, but you have to do something for it."

“That’s what I’m promoting, that we take a look at how you can earn your premium back by doing some pre-screening tests, by engaging in health activity, those sort of things.”

The group Friends of Medicare was delighted to hear that the government appears to have had a change of heart over health premiums, which are also charged in Ontario and British Columbia.

“This is the time to get rid of these premiums. We’ve never been wealthier,” said Suzanne Marshall, executive director of the Edmonton-based lobby group.

Edmonton Sun