tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35954502598179404112024-02-18T20:52:27.191-06:00Medicare's 50th AnniversaryCelebrating the struggle for medicare in Saskatchewan, July 1962Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.comBlogger372125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-11598599221382112722012-12-15T21:49:00.000-06:002012-12-15T21:49:43.474-06:00Memoirs on medicare from new NYC book<b><u><a href="http://nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Next Year Country Books</a></u></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0CSBSS9J-zsBQoNaOPMoO8zCIt4cN-kUgpUTICPtmDfAaz8tGHwcN8y99nBs_7c8P3j9wDHMl1wMXfItH0YvcgftHvaym5yJ6-g-u7Yr6BHZutP-NiPMMrCWSb7RV0lwG79pa6kQ9bzj/s1600/ne+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0CSBSS9J-zsBQoNaOPMoO8zCIt4cN-kUgpUTICPtmDfAaz8tGHwcN8y99nBs_7c8P3j9wDHMl1wMXfItH0YvcgftHvaym5yJ6-g-u7Yr6BHZutP-NiPMMrCWSb7RV0lwG79pa6kQ9bzj/s320/ne+front.jpg" width="210" /></a><i>Below is a chapter from NYC's latest book, </i>No Expectations: A Memoir<i> by James N. McCrorie.</i><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>NO EXPECTATIONS is a brief memoir of a Montreal working class
kid, the son of Scottish immigrants, who lowered his sights, abandoning a lively
ambition to either go to sea or become a railroader, and settling for the life
of an academic. The choice did not keep him out of some of the historical
struggles of his time, including the fight for medicare in Saskatchewan in 1962,
the wild cat strike of 1964, when CN railroaders shut down the railroad,
paralyzing the nation, and university reform, which dominated campus life
throughout the 1970s.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>You can purchase this book </i><b><u><a href="http://nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/2012/12/no-expectation-memoir.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></u></b><i>.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<br />
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Chapter 10 MEDICARE</span></span></b><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">.</span>It would not be an
exaggeration to say that I was thrilled by my research work. The whimsical
thought of railroading was banished from my mind. I was travelling all over the
province, meeting and interviewing all manner of farm men and women, becoming
acquainted with the intriguing history of the province, marveling at how so
many men and women, many non-English speaking when they arrived, dared to
settle this formidable semi arid desert and create upon the land one of the
most enlightened and progressive human communities in Canada.</div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">There was another
consideration. I was falling in love with this semi arid desert. True. I missed
Montreal, the St. Lawrence River valley and the Canadian Shield. (I was yet to
discover that the shield was part of the far north of the province; a region I
was yet to visit.) But the variety and complexity of the plains and the
parkland began to attract me. Experience and acquaintanceship were undermining
my initial displeasure with my new geographical surroundings.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">There was a final
and decisive consideration. In Quebec, I had been politically cynical. The
Duplessis regime and era, later referred to as la Grande Noirceur, was right
wing, anti-labour, pro business (controlled by the Anglos), authoritarian and
openly corrupt. The truth would not be offended if the provincial police force
was described as being staffed by ill educated, ignorant goons and thugs. Most
social services were run by the Church, whose clergy, for the most part, were
reactionary.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">There is one
memorable incident that is deeply embedded in my memory. The workers at John
Manville’s mine at Asbestos, Quebec, went out on strike. Archbishop Charboneau
of Montreal gave a homily one Sunday morning in support of the workers.
Duplessis, it was reported, was livid. He ordered the hierarchy of the Church
to remove the impertinent cleric. They
did so, removing him from office and banishing him to retirement in Victoria,
B.C. He was not even permitted to die in his beloved Quebec. Such was the
vindictiveness and cruelty of the Premier. Such was the disposition of the
Church hierarchy. Working men and women were to be kept in their place.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">In the late 19<sup>th</sup>
century, Marx and Engels had proclaimed that “Men make their own history” This
heresy, of course, gave offence to historians who looked to impersonal
forces in the unfolding of human events
or eagerly subscribed to the “Great Man of History” explanation.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">In the Quebec of
my youth, I never entertained any notion of how history was made. Capital, a
corrupt state and a reactionary clergy ruled the roost. The contrast with what
I was discovering in Saskatchewan shook me to the core. These dam, persistent
farm men and women! Many of them poor. Many of them of modest formal education.
Many of them speaking English with a Slavic, or Germanic or Scandinavian
accent. They would gather at least once a month during the long, inhospitable
winter. They often met in a local hall, many of which were less than
comfortable. They would then dare ask basic questions about their communities,
the province, the nation, indeed the world. They naively believed that they
could change the world, that they could, under the right circumstances, shape
their own history. What astonished me was the discovery that they had already
done so. Their outlook on life was infectious.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">In the winter of
1913, the women’s section of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association (a
lineal forebear of the SFU) had passed a resolution calling for the
establishment of a medical care programme. Health, they had concluded, was far
too important to be left in private hands The payment for the provision of
health care should be a public, provincial responsibility.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">For many years,
the idea of medicare remained dormant. However, when the United Farmers of
Canada (Saskatchewan Section), the successor to the SGGA and predecessor of the
SFU joined with labour to form the Farmer Labour Party in 1932, the idea was
revived and later absorbed into the programme of the CCF (1933).</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">It was not until
the provincial election of 1960, however, that the CCF felt the Government was
financially ready to develop a public, compulsory medical care insurance
programme. The election was bitterly fought over the issue and the CCF won.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">In 1962, Premier
Douglas resigned and his office was taken over by Woodrow Lloyd, the MLA from
Biggar. It was to his government that the task was given to draw up the
necessary legislation and implement it. This they did and medicare became a
reality on July 1, 1962. All hell broke loose.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">The Liberal Party,
right wingers, most doctors, insurance companies (including American firms) the
CMA, the AMA and the provincial press all joined hands to at least rescind the
legislation and paralyze, if not destroy the provincial government. In a matter
of a week, the province was close to civil war. I was both shaken and
intrigued. I had never experienced anything like this before.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I believe it was a
Wednesday of the first week of the doctors’ strike. It was mid morning and I
had gone over to the SFU office on an errand. I was seated in the President’s
office with Roy Atkinson and Doug Yonge. The phone rang. Roy took the call and
made some notes. “It is taken care of”, he snapped as he terminated the call.
He then informed us that the caller was one of the ministers in Lloyd’s
government. Apparently a young doctor had arrived from down east and was
prepared to go to Meadow Lake and practice. He was from the city and not acquainted
with rural communities. Could the SFU send someone up to offer support and
advice?</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Doug immediately
offered to go. He asked Roy for the name of the doctor. When Roy replied: “Guy
Mercier”, my jaw dropped. “From Montreal?” I asked in disbelief. “Yea” was the
reply. “He and I were active in the SCM together when Guy was in medical
school”, I said. Never one to hesitate, Roy “‘ordered” me to join the
expedition. I hastily returned to the University and barged in on Art Davis. I
requested two weeks vacation. I was shrewd enough to realize that if I was
going to enter the fray, it had to be on my time, not the university’s. Art, of
course, immediately granted my request with a broad grin on his face. I suspect
he would have liked to have gone himself.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Doug and I arrived
at Meadow Lake in the late afternoon. Doug was a master of handling provincial highways and navigating rural,
gravel roads. We parked in front of the
medical clinic and went in. Doug spoke for both of us when he said we were from
the SFU and that the Government had
invited us to meet with Dr. Mercier.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">We were offered
seats in the waiting room and after a brief interval, Guy came in. He
approached Doug and didn’t seem to notice me. When he did, he grabbed my hand
and exclaimed in an excited voice: “What in heaven’s name are you doing here?”
Doug replied: “He came west to get an education.”</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">We met and dined
with Guy after the clinic closed. I believe Doug and I stayed the night before
returning to Saskatoon. Guy nearly exhausted us with his endless questions,
most of which we were able to answer to his satisfaction. </span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">The trip made up
my mind. I would spend the next two weeks devoted to the fight to save
medicare. Saskatchewan was making history and for the first time in my life, I
was going to be actively part of it. I felt liberated.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I didn’t have to
wait. Upon arrival in Saskatoon, Roy informed us that he was going into the
northeast to organize. He invited me to join him. He had already been
organizing in the Biggar area, with a volunteer group of railroaders and SFU
members. They had raised $38,000 in 48 hours with the intention of recruiting
doctors and providing proper medical service. It was one of the great victories
in the war. The opponents of the Government were shaken. I believe Roy never
did get the credit to which he was truly entitled.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Our first evening
meeting was in Kamsack in the heart of a Doukhobor community and in a region
that had been heavily settled by Russian immigrants. The hall was packed; even
areas where people could stand were jammed with men and women. </span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Roy spoke first
and his fiery remarks to join the battle were greeted with nervous applause.
The faces in the audience betrayed uncertainty, fear. I was called upon to say
a few words. My reading of the audience had been correct. They didn’t want fire
and brimstone. They wanted reassurance, to be reminded that their support for
medicare was responsible and caring, that what they were going to accomplish
would set an example for the nation.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I spoke quietly
and briefly. I started with a simple question. What was medical care insurance
about? My answer went something like
this. “Anyone in a community can fall ill. If it is serious, they will require
medical attention. Medical attention can be costly and the payment for care can
become a financial burden – an impossible one for some to bear. With medicare,
all of us share the burden of paying . Each year, we each throw a few bucks in
the kitty. Hopefully, our health will be good and we will not have to draw on
the public fund we have built up. But if we need medical care, the bills will
be paid out of the public insurance fund we have established. Medicare is about
sharing, about looking out for each other.”</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">“Where are these
people who oppose this approach coming from? Are they that selfish that they
don’t care about the well being of their neighbours? Are they that greedy that
they can’t spare a few bucks once a year and share fairly in paying for the
health and welfare of those who reside in their community?”</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">It was at this
point that there was a discernible shift in the mood of the meeting. A few
faces growled at being publicly called for what they were. The vast majority
began to nod their heads in agreement with the line of argument I was
developing.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I concluded in
this way. “Over the years, the people who homesteded and settled this district,
many of whom could not speak English when they arrived, fought the railways who
wished to overcharge, built your co-operatives in face of the fierce opposition
of the local banks and merchants, built your wheat pool against the combined
might of the grain trade. YOU built this community by working with your
neighbours, not disregarding their welfare. You and your parents turned this
province from a semi arid desert into the most progressive region in the
Dominion. YOU will do it again with medicare! YOU will do it the way you have
always done great things: in co-operation with your neighbours, by standing
together with them. It is the proper thing to do. It is the decent thing to
do.” The hall erupted.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">That night, Roy
and I were invited to the farm of one of the SFU members. By the time we
arrived, the yard was jammed with trucks and the large farm house packed with
farmers and their wives. Large platters of Russian food appeared from nowhere.
Large glasses were filled to the brim with a fine, potato based home brew. I
was surrounded with friendly and inquisitive guests. I was usually asked if it
was true that I really came from Montreal! One great bear of an old man with a thick,
walrus mustache patted me on the back and said in a loud, Russian accented voice to
no-one in particular: “This young man from Montreal speaks truth. I
lived through those times. It was like he said it was. This man knows much. He
speaks truth”. I had great difficulty falling asleep that night.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I had crossed my
Rubicon. We had a chance to make history.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Roy and I traveled
for the next ten days. Roy did most of the speaking. He was splendid. After
each meeting, we would analyze the reaction of the audience and Roy would
adjust his remarks accordingly. With each passing day our confidence grew.
Confront the people with the truth and most of them would rally.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">This is not the
place to recount the full drama of that July of 1962. Mention, however, should
be made of the critical role of Woodrow Lloyd. This tall, shy scholarly, soft
spoken former teacher possessed a will of iron. As the doctors and their
supporters escalated the struggle, Lloyd’s temperature seemed to drop.
Outrageous demands were met with a cold and dismissive “No”. In the middle of
the crisis, he ruthlessly shuffled his cabinet, almost daring timid waverers to
jump ship. Before the end of the month, the doctors caved and medicare was here
to stay. As Douglas would later publicly remark, medicare would not have been
possible without the fearless leadership of Woodrow Lloyd.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">When I returned
from vacation to the Center, I was greeted with a surprise. I was summoned to
the Director’s office. The moment I entered and sat down, I could sense that
something was remiss. Bill Baker was uneasy. After a few moments of small talk,
he came to the point. President Spinks had been on the blower, demanding to
know why this Saskatchewan Field
Research Fellow was swaning about the province, stirring people up over
medicare. I was bringing the University into dispute. Why, I wasn’t even a
medical doctor and therefore in no position to publicly comment on a subject
about which I was professional ignorant! Baker hinted that Spinks wanted me
dismissed.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">A digression is in
order. John W.T. Spinks was an English chemist who had come to the province
during the depression to accept a position in the Department of Chemistry. He
had acquired something of a reputation as a chemist. He was vain, ambitious,
lacking in social skills. He nevertheless persisted and was eventually
appointed to the Presidency. He was opposed to the establishment of the Center
at the University, privately supported the doctors over medicare and eventually
dismissed Dr. Wendel McLeod, a protégé of Norman Bethune and the provincial
government’s hope to steer the College of Medicine in the direction of social
and preventive medicine.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I knew I was in
trouble. I hastily suggested that the two of us meet with my Research Director,
Art Davis. Bill kindly agreed. What a meeting! Art exploded. He informed Bill
that I was on holidays, that I was speaking for myself, that I was bringing
more credit to the University than that “fucking Englishman.” (Art was forever
the New Englander). Bill, who disliked conflict, saw the wisdom of Art’s
position when Davis promised that the Canadian Association of University
Teachers would get involved if I was in ANY WAY reprimanded. It would become a
national civil rights issue, with all the attendant publicity. Spinks was
denied his pleasure. I believe he never forgave Bill for this and I never
forgave Spinks. Years later, at the Regina College of the University of
Saskatchewan, I quickly joined the ranks of the radical professors and attacked
Spinks publicly at every opportunity.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">But I was not the
only thorn in that little bastard’s side. During the depression and lonely,
Spinks drifted in the direction of a small community of intellectuals:
professors, lawyers, artists, doctors, and journalists who resided in
Saskatoon. They used to gather at a café on 2<sup>nd</sup> Avenue. There Spinks
met Mary Striliaff, a young Doukhobor farm girl who worked at the café as a
waitress. They fell in love and married.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">There was a
problem. In Spinks’ eyes, a proper Englishman should never stoop to marry a
farm girl. Pleasure her? Yes. Marry beneath his station? No. Besides she was
Russian and raised by those mad Doukhobor sectarians. In his social life,
Spinks recognized that these were not social qualities to commend him to his
betters. I am assuming that Spinks privately believed that these blemishes
would be forgotten and would never raise their threatening heads again. He was
mistaken. Party to this group of intellectuals was a brilliant, self taught
journalist, maverick, socialist, a trouble-maker without peers. His name was
James F.C. Wright. I had met him through Alf Gleave. Jim was instantly
intrigued by this Montrealer interested in the farmers movement. He and his
wife, Diana, befriended me.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">Jim was a tall,
well built man in his late sixties, who walked with a slight stoop. His face
was round and enigmatic. As often as not, he would begin a conversation by
rubbing his hands together and saying “Yes, and …….” in a very quite voice.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">He had been born
and raised in Bethany, Manitoba, where his English born father ran a general
store, in front of which always flew the Union Jack. His mother was from
Hamburg. Jim’s recollection of his childhood was revealing. He was something of
a loner, mischevious and insatiably curious. He left home after completing
grade eight, to hitch hike to Winnipeg and become a wiper in the CPR yards. He
later drifted west and took employment
in the oil fields of Alberta. Along the way, he learned to write, eventually
becoming a self taught journalist.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">During the depression,
he moved to Saskatchewan and became involved with the farmers movement,
particularly the young CCF. He wrote a number of “political” plays which
aspiring thespians in the Party put on in country halls. It was during these
years, after taking employment with the Saskatoon Star Pheonix under the
guidance of the legendary Phil Wade, that he took an interest in the
Doukhobors, eventually writing Slava Bohu, the definitive history of the sect.
The book won the Governor-General’s award for historical literature in 1940.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">It was during his
brief visit to Ottawa to receive the Award that he met Diana Kingsmill, the
daughter of Sr. Charles and Lady Kingsmill. Sir. Charles was the first Admiral
of the RCN and Lady Kingsmill was the daughter of wealthy, Ottawa timber
merchants. Diana was presented in court at St. James and was a member of the
1936 Olympic ski team.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">When the two
announced their intention to marry, Lady Kingsmill is alleged to have asked Jim
what would happen to her if this dreadful CCF Party ever came to power. Jim was
to answer sweetly and softly: “We would shoot you.” Diana was instantly
disinherited and when the couple moved to Landis, Saskatchewan, they were
obliged to take up residence in a retired, CPR caboose. Many years later, Lady
Kingsmill repented and Diana came into a generous inheritance upon her mother’s
death. It was this money they enabled them to buy the acreage in Cory RM and
build Mistaka, along with an outdoor, heated swimming pool.</span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span lang="EN-US">I was always a
frequent guest at Mistaka and when Jim and Diana learned that Spinks had tried
to sack me over my involvement in the medicare struggle, Jim went into action
stations. For the rest of that summer, when I would go out to visit, and after
ample “refreshment”, Jim would phone Spinks, usually late in the evening and
put to the pompous president a series of baffling, irritating questions. Diana
and I would sit by and listen, covering our mouths to smother our laughter.
Spinks, of course, had no choice but to humour Jim, as this wild, unruly adventurer
knew the President’s secret. He further knew that Jim was quite capable of any
manner of mischief, particularly through the press. That was Jim, loyal to his
friends – at least those he had not already alienated.</span></div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-20887786813846808972012-11-23T12:10:00.001-06:002012-11-23T12:11:10.072-06:00Medicare booklet promotional video<b><u><a href="http://nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Next Year Country Books</a></u></b><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="450" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LpNPS61GJ6M" width="600"></iframe>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-50760336309666742062012-11-18T23:28:00.002-06:002012-11-18T23:30:00.122-06:00New NYC Booklet on Medicare<b>NYC</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpH767LWacEnI2vKqgvevlksnnpfRsL9C_dfjc1IhZ0H5mS9NTS5bj3uK_rzEfQh72pjK4Q6zyHLdQBatX4bu4wBEFSXy77xnwMVJIqVi0rpQtHWbhf9WrbA7pC0O2zBY-H_vieicBGM/s1600/BookCoverPreview+half+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpH767LWacEnI2vKqgvevlksnnpfRsL9C_dfjc1IhZ0H5mS9NTS5bj3uK_rzEfQh72pjK4Q6zyHLdQBatX4bu4wBEFSXy77xnwMVJIqVi0rpQtHWbhf9WrbA7pC0O2zBY-H_vieicBGM/s320/BookCoverPreview+half+cover.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Medicare's Birth in Saskatchewan: 50th Anniversary of a People's Victory</i></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">The two articles re-published in this pamphlet were written to address the 50th anniversary of North America's first public healthcare system for all citizens initiated in Saskatchewan on July 1, 1962.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We were researching the prolific resources and books available on the subject in preparation for a forthcoming book on the fight for medicare in Saskatchewan and wanted to raise the profile of the anniversary as the actual anniversary approached.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">This pamphlet is intended as a short and quick resource for labour and health care activists as we celebrate 50 years of medicare.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><i>- Lorne Brown, Doug Taylor</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Purchase </i><a href="http://nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/2012/10/new-pamphlet-medicares-birth-in.html">HERE</a><i>.</i></b></span></span></span>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-36555469406727289482012-10-17T17:19:00.001-06:002012-10-17T17:34:05.713-06:00Coming soon!<b><u><a href="http://nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Next Year Country Books</a></u></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKobHy-hpdLV5yCHSQfhJ-3YQNp7dGbVnMglWTr7Lg908FrVDDTkotVDKUjy8i7lG0vb6FTgD1AQxPbn7FEcQla0Roqf4VUMVGE0VQq0K1ILE_rJmT22reSdrogisApJoEl9LojpZM9gpg/s1600/Medicare's_Birth_in__Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKobHy-hpdLV5yCHSQfhJ-3YQNp7dGbVnMglWTr7Lg908FrVDDTkotVDKUjy8i7lG0vb6FTgD1AQxPbn7FEcQla0Roqf4VUMVGE0VQq0K1ILE_rJmT22reSdrogisApJoEl9LojpZM9gpg/s640/Medicare's_Birth_in__Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" width="414" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The two articles
re-published in this pamphlet were written to address the 50</span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
anniversary of North America’s first public healthcare system for all citizens
initiated in Saskatchewan on July 1, 1962.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We were researching the
prolific resources and books available on the subject in preparation for a
forthcoming book on the fight for medicare in Saskatchewan and wanted to raise
the profile of the anniversary as the actual anniversary approached.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">This pamphlet is intended
as a short and quick resource for labour and health care activists as we
celebrate 50 years of medicare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-73157467495840781492012-10-03T16:04:00.000-06:002012-10-03T16:05:54.040-06:00"Medicare's 50th Anniversary" complete blog book<b>NYC</b><br />
October 3, 2012<br />
<br />
The second and final volume of this blog in book form can now be read below. You can also download the book or embed it. Most links should work.<br />
<br />
<div>
<object style="height: 401px; width: 620px;"><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=121003215331-fe494e8a26cd42409427fb0a2a488c58&docName=medicare_s_50th_anniversary_volume_2__1_&username=nextyearcountry&loadingInfoText=Medicare's%2050th%20Anniversary%2C%20Volume%202&et=1349301558890&er=97" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="menu" value="false"/><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" menu="false" style="width:620px;height:401px" flashvars="mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=121003215331-fe494e8a26cd42409427fb0a2a488c58&docName=medicare_s_50th_anniversary_volume_2__1_&username=nextyearcountry&loadingInfoText=Medicare's%2050th%20Anniversary%2C%20Volume%202&et=1349301558890&er=97" /></object><br />
<div style="text-align: left; width: 620px;">
<a href="http://issuu.com/nextyearcountry/docs/medicare_s_50th_anniversary_volume_2__1_?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true" target="_blank">Open publication</a> - Free <a href="http://issuu.com/" target="_blank">publishing</a> - <a href="http://issuu.com/search?q=canada" target="_blank">More canada</a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_hNEndo2EOzr8rUgIdJU83dkIYqvyHgbwANtvZ5XAvP3PeFPyWf6-aU8lWzneaQBr1DDd1BHoCCTL_wEInagJvrRsvuYX-PqN4NsMzrsum7r-FgSX0fbtMJpthH6IbBC5hBnDr815tGA/s1600/Medicare's+50th+Anniversary+Volume+2+(1)-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_hNEndo2EOzr8rUgIdJU83dkIYqvyHgbwANtvZ5XAvP3PeFPyWf6-aU8lWzneaQBr1DDd1BHoCCTL_wEInagJvrRsvuYX-PqN4NsMzrsum7r-FgSX0fbtMJpthH6IbBC5hBnDr815tGA/s320/Medicare's+50th+Anniversary+Volume+2+(1)-1.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Below is the first volume.</b><br />
<br />
<div>
<object style="height: 382px; width: 590px;"><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Fsoftlight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=120322053414-34b2f44180a947b58b3b75e14360666a&docName=medicare_s_50th_anniversary_book_blog&username=nextyearcountry&loadingInfoText=Medicare's%2050th%20Anniversary%20Blog%20Book&et=1332395530354&er=77" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="menu" value="false"/><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" menu="false" style="width:590px;height:382px" flashvars="mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Fsoftlight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=120322053414-34b2f44180a947b58b3b75e14360666a&docName=medicare_s_50th_anniversary_book_blog&username=nextyearcountry&loadingInfoText=Medicare's%2050th%20Anniversary%20Blog%20Book&et=1332395530354&er=77" /></object><br />
<div style="text-align: left; width: 590px;">
<a href="http://issuu.com/nextyearcountry/docs/medicare_s_50th_anniversary_book_blog?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Fsoftlight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true" target="_blank">Open publication</a> - Free <a href="http://issuu.com/" target="_blank">publishing</a> - <a href="http://issuu.com/search?q=ccf" target="_blank">More ccf</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://issuu.com/nextyearcountry/docs/medicare_s_50th_anniversary_book_blog" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiurfCI-RuY6jVf4HBGFByBFoUBFjWPOFWjdMzGGHexUV6GLkUJ5YqdM2eiv-MiBMhwUAOWqs4Klf1srEJrpRj4zi5lE1LppjFTHWVM733pgNXQ-w4laV1PzAMV3Fb4N-fnz1mDwKVDluEI/s400/Medicare's+50th+Anniversary+book+blog-1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-5811180528101919282012-09-04T12:45:00.000-06:002012-09-22T23:08:32.158-06:00Medicare's 50th Anniversary Signing Off<b>NYC</b><br />
September 4, 2012<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNeP7dhlSG3ke7RyMNJh-76mf-t79xem180kkLcnoS3bATexLu8TYd91Ov7p4bVCpe_SQ1W71wDzZSalOPLNU89OWo-JSWhEpBg6AzKc9vgMuXisTLIzg7ZFyfXX-FeoizGPpb-eUQyIjK/s1600/Medicare+50+-+2013+calendar+(MAY+11-12)+(1)-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNeP7dhlSG3ke7RyMNJh-76mf-t79xem180kkLcnoS3bATexLu8TYd91Ov7p4bVCpe_SQ1W71wDzZSalOPLNU89OWo-JSWhEpBg6AzKc9vgMuXisTLIzg7ZFyfXX-FeoizGPpb-eUQyIjK/s640/Medicare+50+-+2013+calendar+(MAY+11-12)+(1)-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he 50th anniversary of medicare's fiery birth here in Saskatchewan has now come and gone.<br />
<br />
The Saskatchewan labour movement, the Saskatchewan Health Coalition, community clinics, the Saskatchewan CCPA, the provincial NDP and others ensured that is was well-marked with lessons learned from the historic battle in 1962.<br />
<br />
I hope this site has provided an useful resource for those advocating for defending and improving Canada's public health care system.<br />
<br />
The site will be left up for as long as Google lets blogs remain dormant.<br />
<br />
Please visit the sites listed on the right of this blog for updates for the continuing fight to ensure health care for all, in Canada and elsewhere.<br />
<br />
Please also visit the articles published in <i>Briarpatch</i> magazine and <i>Canadian Dimension</i> written by Dr. Lorne Brown and myself relating to the 50th anniversary.<br />
<br />
<b><i><u><a href="http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/same-fight-new-foes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Same Fight, New Foes</span></a></u></i></b><br />
<i><u><br /></u></i>
<i><u><b><a href="http://canadiandimension.com/articles/4795/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Birth of Medicare: From Saskatchewan’s breakthrough to Canada‑wide coverage</span></a></b></u></i><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Thank you all for your comments and spreading the word.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Doug Taylor</div>
<div>
Next Year Counrty</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-4557984311126447632012-08-22T15:37:00.001-06:002012-08-22T15:37:45.731-06:00272 billion reasons to fear privatization<a href="http://ochuleftwords.blogspot.ca/"><b>Defending Public Healthcare</b></a><br />Notes from Leftwords for the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions<div>
August 22, 2012<br /><br />Below is a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/industries/223/">list</a> of the 11 US health corporations on the Fortune 500 list. They had a combined revenue of approximately $272 billion in 2010. They make about $15 billion in profits.<br /><br />Trying to reform America's largely for-profit health care system is bound to come up against these interests. With such large revenue streams they have incredible power and resources to divert health care reform to match their own interests. They have (literally) billions of reasons to do so.<br /><br />Their influence has not led to good results. The privatized American system is far and away the most expensive health care system in the world. Despite this, tens of millions of Americans have no health care insurance and tens of millions more have inadequate health care insurance. <br /><br />If Canada let's more and more corporations into our health care system, we will more and more face the same corporate interests able and willing to push health care in the same direction that corporate health care pushes the American system.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="Tab0Visible" id="industryTopNav" style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div id="ssi0" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible;">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-spacing: 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 622px;"><thead style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="headerDivider" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" colspan="3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></td><th class="cnncol2" colspan="2" style="border-left-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Revenues</th><th class="cnncol3" colspan="2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Profits</th></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th class="cnncol1" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Rank</th><th class="cnncol2" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Company</th><th class="cnncol3" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">Fortune 500 rank</th><th class="cnncol4" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px 1px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$ millions</th><th class="cnncol5" style="border-width: 0px 1px 6px 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; width: 57px;">% change from 2010</th><th class="cnncol6" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 10px 0px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$ millions</th><th class="cnncol7" style="border-width: 0px 0px 6px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; width: 68px;">% change from 2010</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/3147.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">UnitedHealth Group</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">22</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">101,862.0</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">8.2</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">5,142.0</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">11.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10186.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WellPoint</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">45</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">60,710.7</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">3.2</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">2,646.7</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">-8.3</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2212.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Humana</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">79</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">36,832.0</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">8.8</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">1,419.0</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">29.1</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10886.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aetna</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">89</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">33,779.8</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">-1.4</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">1,985.7</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">12.4</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2488.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cigna</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">130</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">21,998.0</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">3.5</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">1,327.0</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">-1.3</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10514.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Coventry Health Care</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">219</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">12,186.7</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">5.2</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">543.1</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">23.8</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10315.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Health Net</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">221</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">11,901.0</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">-12.6</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">72.1</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">-64.7</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/11078.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amerigroup</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">385</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">6,318.4</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">8.8</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">195.6</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">-28.4</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">9</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/11223.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WellCare Health Plans</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">401</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">6,106.9</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">12.3</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">264.2</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">N.A.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">10</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/11261.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Centene</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">453</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">5,340.6</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">19.5</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">111.2</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">17.3</td></tr>
<tr style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="cnncol1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">11</td><td class="cnncol2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/11271.html" style="border-width: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Molina Healthcare</a></td><td class="cnncol3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">500</td><td class="cnncol4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">4,769.9</td><td class="cnncol5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 58px;">16.7</td><td class="cnncol6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">20.8</td><td class="cnncol7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 68px;">-62.1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><div id="issueDate" style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; margin: 10px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); color: #333333; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Issue date: May 21, 2012</span></div>
</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-70569895325629269742012-08-21T00:08:00.001-06:002012-08-21T00:08:51.041-06:00Opinion: Time to fight for universal Pharmacare<i><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">A universal program would save Canadians up to $10 billion a year, some estimate</span></i><br /> <br /><b>By Steve Morgan</b><div>
<i>The Vancouver Sun</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pharmacarenow.ca/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8YmJk9lqxUHRs-ojm-nC3v2GtQIvncRUJyIt0iChgOMQtmI3PH3TuKao1Qg7wokhm1PMjrxTt_TzDaV_BfbSRogoM3tK8-zSkW8OwWGYJqM-j1mrD2zmZKM6yag1ItXObj8224xB7x3E/s320/pharma_book_04_e.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
August 20, 2012<br /> <br /> When Prime Minister Stephen Harper, along with the health and immigration ministers, tried to justify cutting refugee health coverage in Canada they argued it was about fairness. Providing prescription drug coverage to refugees was unfair, they claimed, because other Canadians do not have such coverage. They were at least partly right.<br /><br />As a country, we provide universal access to medically necessary hospital care, diagnostic tests and physician services based solely on need. It’s a point of national pride. But Canadian “medicare” — as it is affectionately known — ends as soon as a patient is given a prescription to fill.<br /><br />Provincial drug plans cover only limited populations, such as seniors or social assistance recipients, or limited costs (such as costs exceeding “catastrophic” deductibles). Private drug insurance is a perk not easily obtained by Canadians who are retired, self-employed or employees of small companies.<br /><br />The patchwork of drug coverage in Canada has consequences that cost us all.<a name='more'></a><br /><br />A<u><b><a href="http://pharmacarenow.ca/" target="_blank"> recent study</a></b></u> found that one in 10 Canadians can’t afford to fill their prescriptions as directed. Such financial barriers often increase costs elsewhere in the health care system — from the public purse. For example, if a parent cannot afford the necessary drugs for a child’s asthma, they may be forced to visit the emergency department when the asthma gets out of control.<br /><br />Thus, the question is not whether it is fair to provide refugees with prescription drug coverage; the question is whether it is fair — and even fiscally responsible — not to provide such coverage to all Canadians.<br /><br />In a recent essay in Healthcare Policy journal, we show how the omission of Pharmacare from Canadian medicare came about as an accident of history, the correction of which is long overdue.<br /><br />Canada’s health insurance system was developed in stages, starting with the components of health care that were the most important at the time. Coverage for hospital care and diagnostic tests was established in the 1950s, followed by coverage for medical care in the 1960s. The fathers of our medicare system intended that Pharmacare and homecare be established next.<br /><br />Pharmacare never happened, but the need for it is stronger than ever.<br /><br />The range, use and availability of pharmaceuticals has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. As a result, prescription drugs are one of the most important components of contemporary health care. They are also one of the most costly forms of care.<br /><br />Canadians now spend more money on prescription drugs than they do on all of the services provided by physicians in this country. And, while many drugs are available at modest cost, a new wave of biological drugs is coming to market with price tags of thousands of dollars a year; in some cases, thousands of dollars a month.<br /><br />The need for Pharmacare has not gone unnoticed. In 1997, the National Forum on Health recommended expanding Pharmacare across Canada, but the pharmaceutical industry lobbied against such reforms, arguing that Canada could not “afford” the cost of a national Pharmacare system. Such arguments are repeated today.<br /><br />In truth, a universal Pharmacare program would save Canadians billions of dollars; some estimate up to $10 billion per year.<br /><br />The proof is found in virtually all countries comparable to Canada, countries like Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In comparison to Canada, pharmaceutical spending is lower and has been growing more slowly in all of these countries. Yet they all provide better, more equitable access to prescription drugs than Canada through universal Pharmacare systems of one form or another.<br /><br />In the 2012 Emmett Hall Memorial Lecture, Dr. Michael Rachlis said that medicare was one of the best expressions of Canadian democracy because Canadian citizens wanted it and had to fight for it.<br /><br />If Canadians take pride in their medicare system, and want to achieve better access to medicines at lower costs than they pay today, then maybe it is time for the original vision of medicare, which included Pharmacare, to be completed as planned.<br /><br />Perhaps it is time to fight for Pharmacare. Not just for refugees, but for all Canadians.<br /><br /><i>Steve Morgan is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.ca and associate professor and associate director of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia. Jamie Daw is a policy analyst with the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research.</i><br /><br /></div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-44619867387102082762012-08-20T02:34:00.000-06:002012-08-20T02:34:32.363-06:00As medicare turns 50, let’s see the full vision implemented <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEb81i-dQrrMOKtgT9kLx7mMFBv9x5BW1EKwG02SZS_57IGA1iAJ0hgPQvUBXhLEhCqFaEM9Vp7tc1ApsvVh9NPOtBsUVuVLUysR96rFoPEMsRTProSB1lCxH-JAo9JOhwitWVrUY0nGH/s1600/AOHC_logo09+195x157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEb81i-dQrrMOKtgT9kLx7mMFBv9x5BW1EKwG02SZS_57IGA1iAJ0hgPQvUBXhLEhCqFaEM9Vp7tc1ApsvVh9NPOtBsUVuVLUysR96rFoPEMsRTProSB1lCxH-JAo9JOhwitWVrUY0nGH/s320/AOHC_logo09+195x157.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Association of Ontario Health Centre</b>s<br />
<br />
For AOHC, “medicare” is not just the inner workings of our health system. For us, medicare is an inspiring aspiration enshrined in Canada’s Health Act: <br />
<i><br />… to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial barriers and other barriers. </i><br />
<br />
Financial barriers were addressed in medicare’s first stage – a publicly funded health insurance system designed to cover costs for doctors and hospitals. The second stage that Tommy Douglas and medicare’s other founders envisioned was intended to address the other barriers standing in the way of improved health and well-being – the root causes of poor health and out-of-date delivery of care. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
In the final years of his life, Douglas reminded Canadians about the importance of completing this second stage. “Let’s not forget,” he said, “the ultimate goal of medicare is to keep people well.” <br />
<br />
This full vision of medicare underlies AOHC’s own vision of the best possible health and well-being for everyone living in Ontario. <br />
<br />
So even as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the implementation of medicare, we say it’s time to move forward with real solutions that work for all Ontarians. The good news: scores of these solutions are already underway in our public not-for-profit health care system. But they are not happening widely enough. Our challenge: to break down barriers so we can start spreading these solutions right across the province enabling all Ontarians to enjoy their benefits. <br />
<br />
Some progress has been made. For instance, this winter <a href="http://www.aohc.org/index.php?ci_id=9386&la_id=1">AOHC applauded Ontario's new action plan for health care</a>, and especially its commitment to make primary care a cornerstone of health system transformation. <br />
<br />
AOHC’s executive director Adrianna Tetley committed the province’s 73 community health centres, 10 Aboriginal health access centres, 15 community-governed family health teams and 4 community-governed nurse practitioner-led clinics to meet the challenge Health and Long-term Care Minister Deb Matthews laid out in her action plan. <br />
<br />
She could have been echoing the founders of medicare themselves as she said: "Now is the time for primary health care to live up to its full potential, focusing on keeping people well and not just treating them when they are sick. We also need to ensure that individuals and their families receive coordinated care as they navigate through different parts of the health care system." <br />
<br />
This is a very possible vision. It puts people in the centre of the care and services they need, and looks at the person – and the health and social services systems – as a whole. <br />
<br />
To achieve this, Ontario must move beyond a narrow medical approach that constrains health promotion. Needs-based planning must guide the way. Let’s name the regions have the greatest need for more primary health care services. And where are needs most complex? These are the places where doctors and nurses should be working in close collaboration with the other parts of the health and social service system. <br />
<br />
This kind of planning and concern that all parts of the system are integrated are hallmarks of people- and community-centred care. <br />
<br />
Features of people-centred care include: <br />
<br />
Comprehensive primary health care planning designed to meet the various needs of diverse populations;<br />
<div>
<br />
A more complete set of services and programs that focus on the many different determinants of health at work within families and communities;<br />
<div>
<br />
To improve the health of populations with complex needs, primary care services delivered in partnership with community support, mental health and addictions, social services such as immigrant services and housing, and education; </div>
<div>
<br />
Equitable, timely and continuous care that is comprehensive, evidence-informed and culturally safe; <br />
Every Ontarian having access to interprofessional teams equipped and enabled to work to their full scope of practice. <br />
<br />
When decision makers commit to policy changes that encourage increased innovation in our health system, we can complete the second stage of medicare. And when we complete the second stage of medicare, Ontarians will be healthier, and our health care system will be more sustainable – now and for generations to come. <br />
<br />
<img height="400" src="http://citool.aohc.org/multimedia/Features/Tommy_Douglas.png" width="324" /> <br />
<br />
<b>Resources </b></div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1A0vrz36Sc">Tommy Douglas on the second stage of medicare</a> (YouTube) <br />
<a href="http://www.ontariochc.ca/index.php?ci_id=3294&la_id=1">Report on Second Stage of Medicare, 2007 Conference</a> <br />
<a href="http://medicare50years.blogspot.ca/">Medicare at 50 blog</a> (focus on Saskatchewan, where medicare first implemented) <br />
<a href="http://www.ontariochc.ca/index.php?ci_id=2344&la_id=1">The role of CHCs in strengthening medicare</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.ontariochc.ca/index.php?ci_id=11111&la_id=1">Medicare is a part of us</a> (Globe & Mail)</div>
</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-6821307981461492732012-08-16T12:51:00.001-06:002012-08-16T12:51:56.661-06:00Potential for billions of dollars in increased health cost if Canada-EU trade deal goes through<i><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: x-large;">With Europe in a financial crisis the question remains how far is Canada willing to go to achieve a deal?</span></i><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.nupge.ca/" target="_blank">NUPGE News</a></b><div>
16 Aug. 2012</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Bx7V78mgZ94pqBGDxtclxKR8NmRxb__p3lDpACnz3jjAYVFvZrYL53GzkbIVkgnhi6L-Jo-x_ma-akN1UqTVL4SURMtUDo9RNc1fG-74OdtCsBCrYoSwMmjB7ELGsHVqMOf4_2rVa8Jh/s1600/one_billion_dollars2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Bx7V78mgZ94pqBGDxtclxKR8NmRxb__p3lDpACnz3jjAYVFvZrYL53GzkbIVkgnhi6L-Jo-x_ma-akN1UqTVL4SURMtUDo9RNc1fG-74OdtCsBCrYoSwMmjB7ELGsHVqMOf4_2rVa8Jh/s320/one_billion_dollars2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
While negotiators for the proposed Canada-European Union trade deal say that negotiations are in the final stages, serious concerns continue to be raised about some of the provisions expected to be in the agreement. It is reported that negotiators have reached agreement on 3/4s of the text but that there are some serious issues remaining to be addressed.<br /><br />In particular, Canadian officials say there is a large gap in the negotiations over such issues as investment rules, financial services, and taxation. With Europe in a financial crisis the question remains how far is Canada willing to go to achieve a deal?<br /><br />A number of commentators suggest the intellectual property chapter of the deal as being particularly difficult.<br /><br />According to Michael Geist, the University of Ottawa's Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, the revelation that "provisions from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement may sneak their way into CETA generated widespread headlines throughout Europe last month with politicians and activists expressing exasperation at the clumsy attempt to secretly revive an agreement that was roundly rejected by the European Parliament."<br /><br />"The Canadian opposition to the chapter will come from European demands for patent reforms that could result in billions in additional health care costs due to higher pharmaceutical prices. The pharmaceutical demands are one of Europe's top priorities, but Canada has thus far refused to counter the EU proposals, creating a stalemate that has dragged on for years."<br /><br />Canada's lead negotiator, Steve Verheul, says that the pharmaceutical industries demands won't be on the table during negotiations in September and October.<br /><br />While big pharma insists that these reforms are needed to increase research and development investment in Canada, past experience suggests otherwise.<br /><br />In the 1980s, the industry lobbied for patent reforms while promising to increase spending on research and development in Canada to 10 per cent of total sales by 1996. In reality, investment in drug research and development has declined and is as its lowest level since the 1987 reforms.<br /><br />According to Geist, "given 25 years of mostly failed targets, the rational approach is to put a freeze on any further reforms at least until the industry lives up to its commitments. But with the agreement shrouded in secrecy - the government has steadfastly rejected calls to release the draft text - it appears that the major health care decision will be made behind closed doors with no public discussion, debate, or access to the official text."</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-16877444330909736632012-08-16T12:44:00.000-06:002012-08-16T12:44:03.541-06:00 Physicians take healthier approach<b>BY GREG FINGAS</b><div>
SPECIAL TO THE LEADER POST</div>
<div>
AUGUST 16, 2012
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtCztzBTszoQYPHwEY8PrLoLP4rqSEaT-zkVUNwL24kcAoRSFpVD_I2QC_XK5aYsgrA_QnAtvbVBz4wSsiBVfuv6grODKi12e_xBdF4BxxNtv57lCWT5APQU3AF5ebVSKVLDt_8fqE6Lw/s1600/13aug12_newsWide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtCztzBTszoQYPHwEY8PrLoLP4rqSEaT-zkVUNwL24kcAoRSFpVD_I2QC_XK5aYsgrA_QnAtvbVBz4wSsiBVfuv6grODKi12e_xBdF4BxxNtv57lCWT5APQU3AF5ebVSKVLDt_8fqE6Lw/s640/13aug12_newsWide.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Physicians must become stronger advocates for health equity, says incoming CMA President Dr. Anna Reid, an emergency room
physician in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">J</span>ust a few short years ago, the Canadian Medical Association's leadership launched a series of direct challenges to Canada's universal public health-care system. Two CMA presidents known for their involvement in private service delivery used the national profile associated with the organization to pitch their business model. And CMA members came within an eyelash of voting for health care to be at least in part patient-funded.<br /><br />But the effort of one faction within the CMA to shift our health-care system toward a profit-based model didn't do much to sway public opinion or reshape the delivery of health care. (Yes, we've continued to see privatization by stealth - but not at any greater pace than was already under way.) Instead, it was met by the founding of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, who made it abundantly clear that the CMA couldn't claim a professional consensus to dismantle our prized national health-care system.<br /><br />Now, the CMA looks to have changed direction entirely. And there's reason for optimism that Canada's medical profession is headed down a much more viable path.<a name='more'></a><br /><br />In 2011, the CMA (along with the Canadian Nurses Association) unveiled a set of principles to guide health-care transformation that speak in no uncertain terms about the need to address the corrosive effect of inequality. In keeping with those principles, the CMA has pushed the federal government to include health impact assessments as part of its policy development process.<br /><br />And at a national council meeting this week in Yellowknife, the CMA turned its discussion for the first time toward the social determinants of health. Rather than limiting its focus to the delivery of care, the CMA recognized that medical practice is only one of many factors in overall health outcomes. And it emphasized that physicians need to be aware and active in addressing broader social issues ranging from climate change to housing to the treatment of marginalized groups in order to improve health outcomes.<br /><br />So what does the change of focus from one of Canada's most prominent medical voices mean for our broader political debate?<br /><br />On one view, the CMA could hardly have picked a worse time to adopt a more socially conscious position when it comes to the receptiveness of governments. Stephen Harper's Conservatives have entirely abandoned health care and social programs as anything but an ATM for the provinces - and even there, the federal government is going out of its way to direct money where it's needed least. And at the moment, few provincial governments have both the inclination to pursue social goods and the resources to invest in them.<br /><br />But some of the political barriers standing in the way of a broader view of health might start to crumble in the near future, whether through a renewed Ontario minority government or through an expected change in government in British Columbia. So a message based on health equity and the social deter-minants of health might be nicely timed to inform decision-makers on the cusp of developing and implementing long-term policy goals.<br /><br />Moreover, unlike the CMA's previous advocacy for privatization, its argument to consider the social determinants of health should be relatively non-controversial within the medical community. (At least I wouldn't expect to see a Doctors with Blinders countermovement within the profession.)<br /><br />At the very least, then, we should see the CMA's focus on health equity result in a strong professional front. And if Canadians recognize the significance of our medical community uniting to speak to the need for greater social action, then the CMA's new direction could play a part in transforming more than just our health-care system.<br /><br />Fingas is a Regina lawyer, blogger and freelance political commentator who has written about provincial and national issues from a progressive NDP perspective since 2005. His column appears every Thursday. You can read more from Fingas at <a href="http://www.gregfingas.com/">www.gregfingas.com</a><br /><br /></div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-37119932392493923502012-08-14T12:53:00.000-06:002012-08-14T12:53:12.706-06:00To address health inequalities, look beyond the role of individual responsibility<b>By Iglika Ivanova </b><br />
<i><a href="http://www.progressive-economics.ca/" target="_blank">Progressive Economics Forum</a></i><br />
August 14th, 2012<br />
<br />
<div class="contenttext" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.46666717529297px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObFE62vxGJ-sG8Jc04a2Zsj3nGfkS0PjroNlkwKne7hr1mDutkUY-XGtcyj47iIJjP13XlXfmpwbACBsyK8bNLJGr6m0InvwbWR-fHBcQPYIj-OOvFHvhuLWu4q9eWSQxQMeDnGdy_TBv/s1600/Photo-by-Chris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObFE62vxGJ-sG8Jc04a2Zsj3nGfkS0PjroNlkwKne7hr1mDutkUY-XGtcyj47iIJjP13XlXfmpwbACBsyK8bNLJGr6m0InvwbWR-fHBcQPYIj-OOvFHvhuLWu4q9eWSQxQMeDnGdy_TBv/s320/Photo-by-Chris.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
A new <a href="http://bit.ly/OeNTJ5" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">report</a> by the Canadian Medical Association provides a timely reminder that money buys better health, even in a country with a universal public healthcare system. A poll commissioned by the CMA found a large and increasing gap between the health status of Canadians in lower income groups (household income less than $30,000) and their wealthier counterparts (household income over $60,000).<span id="more-13723" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The fact that income affects health is hardly a surprise. <a href="http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A large body of research </a>has shown that both globally and in Canada, income (and socioeconomic status more broadly) is closely related to virtually all health outcomes that one can think of, from life expectancy to mental health. Health experts have coined the term “social determinants of health” to draw attention to the factors outside the healthcare system that affect health, and income is identified as one of the key social determinants of health.</div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
And yet, despite all the research advances that we’ve made in understanding health and what makes people healthy, so much of the discussion is still focused on individual responsibility and lifestyle choices.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
In my 10-minute conversation about the CMA report with Bill Good on his<a href="http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/News/TheBillGoodShow.aspx" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">CKNW show</a> Monday morning [audio link to follow tomorrow], the questions of poor people smoking and eating fast food came up more than once. But aren’t the poor bringing this ill health on themselves through their own “wrong” lifestyle choices, both Bill Good and a caller asked?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
It’s easy to blame the poor for their misfortune and it gets us “off the hook”. If the poor make bad choices, then we don’t have to feel bad for them getting sick or do anything about the large health disparities that exist in our country. It’s just not our problem that they have double the rates of diabetes and heart disease and tend to die younger than us, wealthier Canadians.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
But in reality, lifestyle choices are a relatively small factor in shaping health outcomes, much less important than our living and working conditions. In fact, living and working conditions often constrain our choices to a very large extent. The <a href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ocdpa.on.ca%2FOCDPA%2Fdocs%2FCDP-FullReport-Mar06.pdf&ei=UW4pUK_VCajaigKxtYD4CQ&usg=AFQjCNH3mkZP3UVi1t7Ql8e2lyvMUT7k9Q&sig2=-mRfZGvBTpTMNId12AD-Rg" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">health research </a>is very clear (p. ix):</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; margin: 20px; padding: 8px 8px 8px 15px;">
<div style="background-color: inherit; color: #505050; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
“Chronic disease can no longer be explained only as an outcome based on engaging in the ‘wrong’ health behaviours. There is a need to look beyond individual responsibility to understand the ways in which the social environment shapes the decisions we make and the behaviours we engage in.”</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
In other words, the income-related health inequalities the CMA report documents represent <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">unfair </strong>and<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> avoidable</strong> ill health, and it causes enormous human suffering, <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/rich-v-poor-the-lives-we-can-expect-from-our-income/article793139/" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">costs years of the life</a> of our fellow citizens. As one of the Canadian members of the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health, Monique Bégin points out:</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; margin: 20px; padding: 8px 8px 8px 15px;">
<div style="background-color: inherit; color: #505050; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The truth is that Canada – the ninth richest country in the world – is so wealthy that it manages to mask the reality of poverty, social exclusion and discrimination, the erosion of employment quality, its adverse mental health outcomes, and youth suicides. While one of the world’s biggest spenders in health care, we have one of the worst records in providing an effective social safety net. What good does it do to treat people’s illnesses, to then send them back to the conditions that made them sick?</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
This is a national embarrassment and we all have a responsibility to ensure that every Canadian has the opportunity to lead a healthy life.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The large body of recent health research shows that if we want to improve health among lower income Canadians, then <a href="http://bcpovertyreduction.ca/learn-more/cost-of-poverty/" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">poverty reduction</a> should become our number one health priority. Solutions focused on individual lifestyle choices and “healthy living” are not only incredibly patronizing to lower-income Canadians, they are also bound to be ineffective.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.policynote.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/the-health-gradient.png" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="We all make choices, but the deck is stacked against some of us. That's the big lesson from the literature on social determinants of health." height="355" src="http://www.policynote.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/the-health-gradient.png" style="border: 1px solid rgb(208, 208, 208); float: left; margin: 3px 10px 3px 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
If you’re concerned that poverty reduction is expensive, consider how much we already spend to treat preventable and avoidable income-related illness today. In <a href="http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/lack-action-poverty-costs-bc-8-%E2%80%93-9-billion-annually-study-calculates-healthca" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">a recent CCPA report</a>, I estimate the extra costs of providing health services to the poorest 20% to $1.2 billion in BC alone and $9.1 billion in Canada, or 6.7% of the total costs of our healthcare system.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
As Andre Picard concludes in an old Globe and Mail <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/rich-v-poor-the-lives-we-can-expect-from-our-income/article793139/" style="background-color: inherit; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">article</a>:</div>
<blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; margin: 20px; padding: 8px 8px 8px 15px;">
<div style="background-color: inherit; color: #505050; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The most powerful drug we have – money – is pretty plentiful in Canada. But it is not being prescribed to everyone who would benefit.</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-27009406181963374372012-07-26T18:49:00.001-06:002012-07-26T18:49:34.836-06:0050th Anniversary of Medicare Crisis - Documentary<b>CBC</b><br />
The Current<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Monday, July 23, 2012</span><br />
<br />
<div class="sclt-GigyaExtended" gigid="showShareBarUI" id="componentDiv232307" style="margin-bottom: 20px; visibility: visible;">
<div class="gig-bar-container gig-share-bar-container">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/07/23/50th-anniversary-of-medicare-crisis---documentary-2/index.html#" id="yui_3_4_1_4_1343347766987_74" name="&lid=Listen&lpos=ListenButtonFeatured" style="background-color: white;"><b>Listen</b></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oiHI-helO-9GmjH6ge_3g7Eo-aV4XFHXsUUrV3jBjO6q31Z9AqcThjT-tQ8fcsPhPlzwYpsLrxycfQbcx8LCD0EIdsy6-4OpZ7Dly3ysVCnXW9F07h9AGP-2j5Yc7tNXLc-ycEFcoxJ8/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oiHI-helO-9GmjH6ge_3g7Eo-aV4XFHXsUUrV3jBjO6q31Z9AqcThjT-tQ8fcsPhPlzwYpsLrxycfQbcx8LCD0EIdsy6-4OpZ7Dly3ysVCnXW9F07h9AGP-2j5Yc7tNXLc-ycEFcoxJ8/s200/2.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="entryContent">
On the 50th anniversary of the introduction of medicare, a
documentary look at the battle that nearly kept it from happening. We
hear from two families from different sides of the dispute look back on
the Medicare fight in Saskatchewan, they feel it's shaped the way
healthcare is delivered today. <br />
<br /><strong style="background-color: white;">50th Anniversary of Medicare Crisis - Documentary</strong></div>
<div class="entryContent">
<b><br /></b>
In the summer of 1962, the Saskatchewan
Doctor's Strike brought a bitter fight over medicare to a head. The
labour dispute was triggered on July 1st, when Canada's first universal
health care plan, the Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act, took
effect. Doctors walked off the job and stayed off for more than three
weeks. <br />
<br />
Patients panicked, worried about who would
care for them in an emergency. And the provincial government stood its
ground, determined to make the new law stick. For three weeks that
stand-off produced protests, fear ... even threats of violence. It
wasn't settled until a deal called the Saskatoon Agreement was <strong id="yui_3_4_1_4_1343347766987_76"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2012/07/11/sk-medicare-rally-anniversary-1207.html" target="_blank">signed 50 years ago today. </a></strong><br />
<br />
Today, we're looking back on that dispute to
find out how it has shaped the health care we know today. The CBC's Sean
Prpick tells the story through the eyes of two families who were on
opposite sides of the issue. Sean's documentary is called <em>Days of Decision</em>. <br />
<br />
Dr. Noel Doig has just published a new memoir of Sasakatchewan's medicare crisis. It's called <strong><em><a href="http://indieinkpublishing.com/presta/noel-doig/27-setting-the-record-straight-9780987810540.html" target="_blank">Setting The Record Straight.</a></em></strong></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-62407766459591274882012-07-26T18:42:00.000-06:002012-07-26T18:42:22.772-06:00The next 50 years: What does the future hold for Medicare in Saskatchewan?<b>By Christeen Jesse</b><br />
L-P Specialty Products<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rGKOVUAhn9LFt-v8SjyP9lB1gTaTCfZNiz5ysZGHCD8m5t0UN8RtdaRPY_FRRQx90bRhqOCZYw_-igZVwclBkfwG1DTL58uxpQtniR96EYfRhhH8scrF1C-2ghy6QPl3yeufLf-1v2sz/s1600/sandra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rGKOVUAhn9LFt-v8SjyP9lB1gTaTCfZNiz5ysZGHCD8m5t0UN8RtdaRPY_FRRQx90bRhqOCZYw_-igZVwclBkfwG1DTL58uxpQtniR96EYfRhhH8scrF1C-2ghy6QPl3yeufLf-1v2sz/s320/sandra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
July 23, 2012 <br /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he induction of Medicare into Saskatchewan law 50 years ago has done more than just provide affordable health care - it has also placed importance on the values of equality and democracy.<br /><br />"We have seen a real establishment of an ethic and understanding that people should be treated if they're sick - regardless of how much money they make and of where they are in society," said Ryan Meili, a family physician in Saskatoon and the head of the Division of Social Accountability at the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. "I think that's a really positive thing to have been developed here and it effects the way we see lots of areas of social investment."<br /><br />Meili, who wrote the recently-published book A Healthy Society: How a Focus on Health Can Revive Canadian Democracy, recognizes the province's past accolades in health care, but says as society evolves, Medicare needs to change with it.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />"We're very much in the second stage of Medicare and need to move beyond just doctors and hospitals to looking at what really keeps us healthy and makes us sick."<br /><br />"There are definitely areas where we have moved forward - but I think it would be pretty widely accepted that we haven't really gone beyond treatment - we're mostly still dealing with people after they are sick, rather than looking at 'How do we actually organize our society in a way that fewer people get sick'?"<br /><br />After 50 years of developing the Medicare model, Saskatchewan is now at a pivotal point - faced with moving beyond health care that focuses on short-term treatment of immediate cases. Looking beyond just the immune system and into the causes of poor long-term health is the next logical step for the province, says Meili<br /><br />He suggests that in order to achieve that, people must understand how social determinants like income, education and employment affect personal health.<br /><br />"It's all connected. We have the idea that we can just deal with our bodies once they are sick, but in our society, that's far too narrow of a view," he said.<br /><br />Factors like housing, nutrition and social support also need to be taken into consideration.<br /><br />"If you look at where health care dollars go, we spend a lot more on people who are at the lower end of the economic scale. We don't have actual primary care services available in an equitable fashion, so people wind up in a hospital, in the emergency room and where things are most expensive. So number one, it's looking at addressing things like poverty, where people are living, the circumstances where people get sick; and number two, it's addressing health equity - making sure that we provide more services for the people who need them most, rather than the way it is right now."<br /><br />Roy Romano, former premier of Saskatchewan, also recognizes the importance of taking these factors into consideration for the future. He is quoted in the foreword of A Healthy Society saying: "The impact of the social determinants of health is well known to government and to health care organizations. The major challenge in us lies in turning this understanding into concrete actions that have an impact on individual Canadians and communities."<br /><br />With a proud past, Saskatchewan is embarking on the next 50 years with a strong foundation. Future government leaders and health care professionals have the task of addressing the current issues with the system, while continuing to build on the successes of its past. If Tommy Douglas's original visions of equality and unanimous access to health care are kept alive, Medicare has a bright future to come.<br /><br />"On July 1, 1962, we had doctors taking to the streets going on strike against the provision of universal health care. On June 18, 2012, we had a national day of action across the country with doctors taking to the streets protesting cuts to refugee health, saying that we need to provide universal health care, and we need to address health equity in the services we provide. So that, to me, says there has been a cultural shift within the health care providing professions, and that gives me hope," said Meili.<br /><br />"And hopefully that continues - [Saskatchewan] having people working in the system having a desire for social change and who are willing to spark a conversation that will help us move beyond treatment to better health care."<div style="border: medium none; overflow: hidden; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-50147849574925009032012-07-26T17:39:00.000-06:002012-07-26T17:39:44.119-06:00The Birth of Medicare: From Saskatchewan’s breakthrough to Canada‑wide coverage<b>By Lorne Brown and Doug Taylor</b><br />
<div>
<i><a href="http://canadiandimension.com/articles/4795/" target="_blank">Canadian Dimension</a></i></div>
<div>
July 3rd 2012 <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="516" src="http://canadiandimension.com/images/slir/w500-h400/images/articles/SAB-Morris_neg1_website.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>The Saskatchewan Doctor’s Strike. Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists.</i></span> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span>edicare was born in Saskatchewan on July 1, 1962. It would be the first government-controlled, universal, comprehensive single-payer medical insurance plan in North America. It was a difficult birth. The North American medical establishment and the entire insurance industry were determined to stop Medicare in its tracks. They feared it would become popular and spread, and they were right. Within 10 years all of Canada was covered by a medical insurance system based on the Saskatchewan plan, and no serious politician would openly oppose it. <br />
<br />
The same interests that tried to prevent Medicare and are continually trying to destroy it in Canada have mostly succeeded in stopping similar progress in the United States. After more than half a century of struggle, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the private insurance industry still control the US medical system despite minor steps forward like Medicaid for the very poor and Medicare for the elderly. The latest plan passed by Congress and endorsed by the private insurance industry amounts to public subsidies for the insurance industry. <br />
<br />
Commentators have often wondered why the campaign for state medicine succeeded in Canada and failed in the United States. The battle for Medicare occurred in the 1960s when our political culture was moving to the left. Medicare’s first breakthrough.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div>
It is not surprising that the first breakthrough would be in Saskatchewan. The province, which was the home base of “agrarian socialism,” had been governed since 1944 by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) led by T.C. (Tommy) Douglas. The CCF had originally intended to socialize much of the economy but, like social democratic formations elsewhere, had retreated from this position and by the 1950s concentrated on building a welfare state within a mixed economy. Medical care had always been a centerpiece of its welfare state program and by 1959 considerable strides had been made. The initial innovation was universal hospital insurance which was introduced as early as 1947, and by 1958 had been adopted nationally as a federal-provincial jointly funded program. This is what made it financially possible for Douglas to announce in 1959 that the province would be launching a universal medical insurance plan. <br />
<br />
Universal state medical insurance was virtually the only major issue in the Saskatchewan provincial election of 1960. The promise of state Medicare was so popular that the opposition parties dared not oppose it outright, but they were distrustful of what they claimed would be CCF-administered “socialized medicine.” The organized medical establishment was not nearly so reticent and mounted a ferocious propaganda campaign fronted by the local College of Physicians and Surgeons with the support of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the AMA, the local economic elite and most of the media in the province. The College wielded tremendous power and discipline because it was the only economic group representing doctors and was also the licensing body which determined who could practice medicine.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Doctors who favoured Medicare were isolated and ostracized by the hierarchy of the profession. The local medical hierarchy in 1960 took much of their advice from outsiders and adopted tactics which had proved successful in many similar campaigns in the United States. They amassed $100,000 for propaganda purposes, a tremendous sum in 1960 and far more than any party would spend in a Saskatchewan provincial election. Every household received printed propaganda and advertisements flooded the radio and newspapers. Public meetings were held throughout the province and were addressed by prominent doctors and supporters, often under the auspices of local Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade. <br />
<br />
The crudeness of the propaganda appears to have been based on the assumption that the Saskatchewan electorate was as unsophisticated as their American counterparts. There were denunciations of socialism, communism, “socialized medicine” and the evils of “compulsion.” People would not be able to choose their own doctors; there might be compulsory abortion; state bureaucrats might commit people to mental hospitals. It was suggested that many doctors would leave the province and be replaced by inferior foreign practitioners. “They’ll have to fill up the profession with the garbage of Europe. Some of the European doctors who come out here are so bad we wonder if they have ever practiced medicine.” Norman Ward, Saskatchewan’s most prominent political scientist at the time, asserted that the medical hierarchy “betrayed an ignorance of democratic processes in general, and Saskatchewan politics in particular, that would have been excessive in a gaggle of high school freshmen.” <br />
<br />
The effectiveness of the anti-Medicare campaign can be judged by the results of the June 8, 1960 election. The CCF won 42 percent of the vote in a four-way race and 37 of the 54 seats in the legislature. The government interpreted the results, as did most academics and other neutral observers and even much of the media outside the province, as a mandate to proceed with a universal medical plan. <br />
<br />
<b>A renewed assault on Medicare </b><br />
<br />
It appeared momentarily that democracy would prevail and the medical hierarchy would accept the decision of the electorate. Such optimism proved to be a chimera as the medical hierarchy and their friends in the provincial business class and local media elite prepared for a bitter assault on the principles of responsible government. They were assisted in this campaign by the local Liberal Party and by an array of obscurantist reactionaries who were mobilized for the occasion. <br />
<br />
The initial purpose of the anti-Medicare campaign was to force the CCF government to go back on their election promise and stay out of the medical insurance field altogether. When it became clear that the CCF would do no such thing, the fallback position was trying to force them to water down government involvement, limiting it to subsidizing existing medical insurance schemes controlled by organized private medicine. Tommy Douglas himself could be considered the first political casualty. He had become the first leader of the newly founded NDP in the fall of 1961, and was replaced by Woodrow Lloyd as provincial leader and premier. Douglas was defeated in a Regina constituency in the federal election of June 1962. The defeat was attributed partly to the campaign against Medicare. <br />
<br />
<b>The doctors’ strike </b><br />
<br />
This article cannot do justice to the infamous doctors’ strike of July 1–23, 1962. Entire books have been devoted to it. It was the most polarized Saskatchewan battle of the 20th century and it divided the population into warring camps which brought the province to the brink of a civil war. The campaign, which included most of the local media, was based on outrageous lies about the intent of Medicare, racial slurs, red-baiting, acts of violence and threats of blood in the streets. One of the most infamous statements was made by the right-wing priest Athol Murray to an anti-Medicare rally, broadcast by radio to thousands more: “This thing may break into violence and bloodshed any day now, and God help us if it doesn’t.” This was merely one of the incendiary speeches Murray had been making throughout the province, and the Catholic Church to its credit ordered him out of Saskatchewan for the duration. The anti-Medicare campaign gave rise to a right-wing movement known as the Keep Our Doctors (KOD) Committee. The KOD movement had many similarities to today’s rabid Tea Party movement in the United States. It was composed of an active, ignorant and misinformed rank and file, led by manipulative leaders with a right-wing political agenda. Prominent doctors and businessmen and leading lights of the local Liberal Party appeared on platforms with these fanatics. The interests behind the KOD were bent not only on stopping “socialized medicine” but in ridding the province of “socialism.” <br />
<br />
The Lloyd government held firm despite tremendous pressure, and stared down the North America medical-industrial complex for 23 anxious days. This was made possible by the dedication of CCF rank and file activists and a dedicated core of socialists, trade unionists, agrarian radicals, and of a small minority of courageous doctors who defied the ostracism of their colleagues. They built community clinics with the initial aim of employing doctors who defied the strike. Their long-range aim was to provide a consumer-controlled alternative to entrepreneurial fee-for-service medicine. It was the possibility that the community clinics might become really widespread and popular that really frightened the medical establishment. The same people who organized the community clinics also organized such groups as Citizens in Defense of Medicare and Citizens for a Free Press to counter the anti-Medicare propaganda. <br />
<br />
Public opinion swung against the anti-Medicare lobby partly due to the work of the pro-Medicare committees with much help from the Saskatchewan Farmers’ Union and the trade union movement, and partly because of a popular backlash against the excesses of the KOD. The College of Physicians and Surgeons was forced to call off the strike after an arrangement with the government, known as the Saskatoon Agreement, was made on July 23, 1962. The agreement included some compromises and ambiguities which allowed the College to continue harassing community clinic doctors and to hinder the growth of alternatives to fee-for-service entrepreneurial medicine. However, the main point of the agreement was that medical insurance would remain government-controlled, compulsory, universal and reasonably comprehensive. An important beachhead with national significance had been established, and the plan immediately became popular. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately for Woodrow Lloyd and his government, they did not reap the immediate political benefits. Ross Thatcher, Liberal leader, had used the Medicare crisis to consolidate the disparate right-wing forces of the province around his leadership. The Liberals narrowly defeated the NDP in the provincial election of 1964. But to do so they had to promise to continue the medical care plan as it was. Henceforth no serious Saskatchewan politician could openly attack the principle of government-controlled universal Medicare. <br />
<br />
<b>How Medicare went national </b><br />
<br />
That Medicare would spread so rapidly from Saskatchewan to the national level has often puzzled observers. It can be explained mainly by two factors: a miscalculation by the CMA, and the configuration of national political forces in the 1960s. By 1960 the CMA could see that Medicare would soon become a national issue. It hoped to stop any move towards what it called “socialized medicine” by making the case for a continuation of the existing doctor-sponsored medical insurance plans, subsidized by the state if necessary but controlled by the medical establishment. Consequently it pressed the Diefenbaker government to appoint a Royal Commission to examine the whole issue of the medical system. <br />
<br />
The CMA strategy backfired. Diefenbaker appointed fellow Conservative and old seat-mate from law school, Mr. Justice Emmett Hall, to chair the Royal Commission. The Commission was intended to examine all aspects of Canadian health care. However, the public hearings overlapped with the debate then raging in Saskatchewan that was becoming a major issue in the House of Commons and beyond. Dennis Gruending, in his superb biography of Emmett Hall, describes the excitement around the hearings, which played to packed houses around the country. Labour and farm organizations, consumer groups, community associations and many churches recommended a public plan similar to the one introduced in Saskatchewan in the midst of such controversy. The CMA, the private insurance industry and their business allies wanted the government to endorse the plans already operating under the auspices of organized medicine and the insurance companies. People could pay their own premiums, with the government subsidizing the premiums of the poor based on means tests. Gruending points out that Hall examined the evidence objectively and came down on the side of public Medicare, and then convinced those who were skeptical to go along with it. The first volume of the commission report, issued in June 1964, came out in favour of a comprehensive health insurance program to be jointly financed by the federal and provincial governments. “Although he didn’t admit it in the report, Hall’s proposal was essentially the Saskatchewan model on a national scale,” Gruending wrote. <br />
<br />
The reaction to the Hall Report could probably best be summed up with the expression “all hell broke loose.” The usual suspects mounted a rhetorical battle on a national scale, generally divided along class and ideological lines. Emmett Hall, by now elevated to the Supreme Court, threw himself into the debate in favour of public Medicare, an unprecedented move for a Supreme Court Justice and Chairman of a Royal Commission. By 1964 the pro-Medicare forces in the country were riding the crest of public opinion during a period when the political culture was moving to the left. The political alignment of national parties saw six years of minority governments over three elections between 1962 and 1968, and this favoured those political forces attempting to move the country in a more progressive direction. The NDP was growing and this strengthened left Liberals who argued that their party must protect their left flank. This in turn encouraged the red Tories within the Progressive Conservatives, who argued that the party must move left to remain electorally competitive. All of this was occurring during a minority situation when an election might occur at any time and no party wanted to be caught on the wrong side of a popular issue like public Medicare. <br />
<br />
It took fierce struggles within both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parliamentary parties, but in the end the party whips forced the right wing into submission. The National Medical Care Insurance Act was passed in the House of Commons on December 8, 1966, by an overwhelming vote of 177 to 2. The starting date was July 1, 1968, and the Act provided that the federal government would pay about half of Medicare costs in any province with insurance plans that met the criteria of being universal, publicly administered, portable and comprehensive. By 1971 all provinces had established plans which met the criteria. Forty-five years later, the right to universal and equitable Medicare is now in perhaps the greatest danger it has faced since 1970. The political culture has lurched dangerously to the right and the Harper government has essentially declared that it has no intention of enforcing the Canada Health Act. The popular forces which made Medicare possible will have to be revitalized if we are to preserve the achievements which took decades of struggle to accomplish.</div>
</div>
</div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-90850072381902436432012-07-21T13:02:00.002-06:002012-07-21T13:02:21.677-06:00Stronger measures needed to crack down on for-profit clinics, say doctors<b>Canadian Doctors for Medicare</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRVV7yQpu8pg7myP_su7u9HXtU2XoRUAM976TKuTKpdVU8RDOWLO18NhyphenhyphenZaf7FyZhs_NUx_-f6FFAgYcpNZKHZ9j7CbNie6cIldZYEjvQGx-o1bevLx5UjUIhR_dGIyO3PVuDY0rnao9O/s1600/744116_cdm_logo_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRVV7yQpu8pg7myP_su7u9HXtU2XoRUAM976TKuTKpdVU8RDOWLO18NhyphenhyphenZaf7FyZhs_NUx_-f6FFAgYcpNZKHZ9j7CbNie6cIldZYEjvQGx-o1bevLx5UjUIhR_dGIyO3PVuDY0rnao9O/s200/744116_cdm_logo_200.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
July 19, 2012<br /><br />BC’s Medical Services Commission called for an end to extra billing at afor-profit surgical clinic infamous for its illegal billing practices yesterday, in a movedoctors say has been a long time coming.<br /><br />“We’re thrilled that the illegal billing practiced by the Cambie Clinic is finally being calledto account by the Medical Services Commission,” said Dr. Danielle Martin, chair ofCanadian Doctors for Medicare. “But there must be real consequences to chargingCanadians for their publicly-insured services.”<br /><br />After a lengthy audit, the Medical Services Commission concluded that CambieSurgeries Corporation and the Specialist Referral Clinic (Vancouver) Inc. owned by Dr.Brian Day charged illegally in more than 200 cases, charging the BC Ministry of Healthnearly half a million dollars in extra billing. This violates BC’s Medical Protection Act.<br /><br />Although the Cambie clinic’s actions are illegal, the BC government is only seeking toensure the clinic stops these practices in the future. Canadian Doctors for Medicare iscalling for stronger punitive action to create a real deterrent to extra billing by for-profitclinics, and for accountability to BC citizens for their tax dollars.<br /><br />The Canada Health Act stipulates that the federal government may withhold one dollarof cash transfer for every dollar collected through direct patient charges – a penalty thatshould be imposed in a case such as Cambie, where illegal extra billing has been continuously rampant.<br /><br />“This is a prime example of what happens when the federal government doesn’t enforcethe Canada Health Act,” said Dr. Vanessa Brcic, executive member of Canadian Doctorsfor Medicare. “On behalf of Canadians who are emptying their savings accounts into thecoffers of for-profit clinics like Cambie, the federal government should be taking a muchtougher stance on working with the provinces to stop illegal billing practices, andinvesting in care that all Canadians can access in our public system.”</div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-47459053888920040412012-07-20T13:19:00.002-06:002012-07-20T13:20:25.614-06:00Towards a New Understanding<b style="background-color: white;">THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SASKATCHEWAN’S CO-OPERATIVE COMMUNITY CLINICS AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SASKATCHEWAN</b><br />
<br />
<b>By <span style="background-color: white;">Rochelle Elizabeth Smith</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-8pT9bZsRVbKucb470bEfM8wLybjow6uwBYMlt3qJ1hInC4YlnJe5U_4OQ7EZ8RB8wF5xhXpZtho2rY4DcpAWzTNmgdxz2ZBzNaiV_h1vo34FuddAgOWinQWE_DJ9tR_zI2N1LFGl51k/s1600/Seniors_group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-8pT9bZsRVbKucb470bEfM8wLybjow6uwBYMlt3qJ1hInC4YlnJe5U_4OQ7EZ8RB8wF5xhXpZtho2rY4DcpAWzTNmgdxz2ZBzNaiV_h1vo34FuddAgOWinQWE_DJ9tR_zI2N1LFGl51k/s320/Seniors_group.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
This dissertation is a study of the public policy-making process, the role of ideas and ideology in this process, and their combined effect on the relationship between social economy enterprises, particularly co-operatives, and government. It is also concerned with a central problem for all social economy organizations today: the impacts of public policy on funding, decision-making and strategy.<br />
<br />
The central focus of this research is the relationship between three of Saskatchewan‘s co-operative Community Clinics and the provincial Government of Saskatchewan. In spite of a seeming congruence between the goals of the Community Clinics and successive provincial governments, the Clinics have not played a significant role in the reform and restructuring of the delivery of health care services in the province. This study seeks to examine this paradox with specific focus on the following overarching concerns:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">What role do ideas and ideology play in the policy-making process related to the co-operative Community Clinics? </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">What accounts for the ambiguity in the relationship between the Clinics and the government?</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"> Under what conditions can the dominant paradigm in health policy, specifically regarding the co-operative Community Clinics, be changed?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><i><br /></i></b><br />
<b><i>Read this thesis</i> <u><a href="http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04122010-091353/unrestricted/August2010FinalRev.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a></u>. </b>(pdf)</div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-87462345953228417382012-07-19T21:11:00.001-06:002012-07-19T21:12:20.509-06:00Harper Hacks Down Our Medicare<b>By Danielle Martin</b><br />
Board Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare<br />
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgxaY6ysdxDunn5Z1sEJIeB913maHsL2xPEw56mc8iP2cKwWpdLwsAuYNyRsVvoFOGMzD78nXXBeOV5CAq2SDA9vcgw1EcJgJaVL93f_DI4G65hbSaLBxCz1Ew84hDBJYopV38oweNzVG/s1600/harperion6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgxaY6ysdxDunn5Z1sEJIeB913maHsL2xPEw56mc8iP2cKwWpdLwsAuYNyRsVvoFOGMzD78nXXBeOV5CAq2SDA9vcgw1EcJgJaVL93f_DI4G65hbSaLBxCz1Ew84hDBJYopV38oweNzVG/s320/harperion6.jpg" width="320" /></a><i>Huff Post</i><br />
July18, 2012<br />
<br />
<a href="http://reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.ca%2Fdanielle-martin%2Fmedicare_b_1684149.html&title=danielle-martin:%20Harper+Hacks+Down+Our+Medicare"></a><a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.ca%2Fdanielle-martin%2Fmedicare_b_1684149.html&title=danielle-martin:%20Harper+Hacks+Down+Our+Medicare"></a>Canadians can feel it -- something's not right in our country when it comes to health care. We know our public system is fundamentally sound, but we also know that there is much work to be done to improve it and ensure it's as sustainable as we want it to be for generations to come. We see our health care providers and provincial governments struggling to improve services in the context of tight public budgets and an aging population. Almost everyone is trying to make medicare better.<br />
<br />
But one critical player is missing from the effort -- where is our federal government when it comes to health care?<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Democratically elected leaders are expected to represent the views of their constituents. And in this case it's clear: Canadians want our federal government to be part of the solution to the national challenges we face in health care. Public opinion research conducted for Health Canada released in May reinforced this message.</span><br />
<br />
There is so much we could accomplish with federal leadership. We're getting a raw deal on our pharmaceuticals; the federal government could coordinate a bulk-purchasing strategy and a national public drug formulary. As First Nations, refugees, rural, and inner-city populations grapple with challenges to health equity, the federal government could be the leader in improving the health of society's most vulnerable. And as interprovincial inequities deepen in a number of areas, the federal government could ensure that all Canadians are able to expect timely access to a common basket of services, such as long-term care and home care, particularly as provinces are striving to meet the changing needs of an older population<br />
<br />
But instead of facing these challenges, in December 2011, the federal government announced that it would shift to a per capita transfer system that ties funding increases to economic growth. It then walked away from the 2014 Health Accord negotiating table, shirking a critical responsibility to provide leadership in transforming our health care system, and abandoning a commitment to ensuring that Canadians have comparable levels and quality of health care from province to province.<br />
<br />
Why does the change in the funding formula matter? Originally, cash transfers were distributed on a formula that ensured that all provinces could meet national standards without the burden being more onerous on some than on others. A straight per capita tax transfer was seen as unfair because provinces with fewer resources would carry a heavier burden than more wealthy provinces. The same is still true today.<br />
<br />
But health care isn't just about dollars and cents. No one wants a health care system that consumes endless pots of money. What the government of Canada is really saying with this transfer is that it doesn't want to be involved any more. They're not interested in making sure that Albertans get the same standard of care as Nova Scotians, or that a successful new approach for wait times in Victoria is used in St. John's as well. And that is what's truly unacceptable.<br />
<br />
There are already inequities in health care, with different levels of coverage for pharmaceuticals, long-term care, and dental care from province to province. Currently, pharmaceutical coverage for seniors varies widely across the country; we need leadership to help ensure that our seniors are treated equitably from coast to coast. Moving forward without the federal government's involvement in national standards will lead to deepening inequalities between provinces.<br />
<br />
The 2004 Health Accord drove meaningful change for health care in our country, committing to increased federal funding, and importantly, setting benchmarks and making progress on issues like wait times. Although there's still more work to be done on wait times, we at least know how the provinces stack up against each other, and waits have improved over the lifespan of the Accord because of the coordinated goal-setting with the federal government.<br />
<br />
In late July, our country's premiers will be meeting in Halifax at the Council of the Federation, where both health care innovations and funding will be on the agenda. Our premiers need to work together, but also to work at bringing the federal government back to the table.<br />
<br />
The federal government's current strategy seems to be diminishing the expectations of Canadians, offloading all responsibility to the provinces, and letting the chips fall where they may. The idea that we will simply get used to health care being the sole responsibility of provinces is naïve. Canadians believe deeply in a society that takes care of each other, and one way that we express that belief is through medicare - it's the highest expression of Canadians caring for one another. That aspiration is a national one, and it deserves the attention of our national leaders.<br />
<br />
We need leaders who will rise to the challenge of protecting and improving medicare, not shirk their responsibilities. Prime Minister Harper, you are needed back at the table for a 2014 Health Accord. Canadians have real expectations of you, not just to cut cheques -- and increasingly smaller cheques at that -- but to lead Canada on health care. Your absence will hurt the health of Canadians.</div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-43635241677500526972012-07-18T22:46:00.002-06:002012-07-18T22:46:25.431-06:00Pharmacare: Campaign for a National Drug Plan<div>
<b style="background-color: white;">Canadian Health Coalition</b></div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>About the Campaign</i></b><br /><br />Pharmacare means a national drug plan that would be publicly funded and administered, control costs, provide universal access and ensure the safe and appropriate use of drugs. It would cover medically necessary drug costs in the same way that Medicare now covers hospitals and physicians. The <a href="http://healthcoalition.ca/">Canadian Health Coalition</a> is a public advocacy organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Medicare.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Click</i> <u><a href="http://pharmacarenow.ca/" target="_blank">HERE</a></u> <i>to visit their website.</i></b></div>
<div>
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pharmacarenow.ca/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ml1BQAxhSeSTsmUNzYRiuYGLbjUYcqwoEK0y1e1P9Wm7TIYs5eK6OmZkR1QJwoHBCX6yYhDGus8oqzWfctGxBsRmZO145qIq6groeXwC7gyaWJBn1lMYMYMB-gcBE-OBlAJSaFcrTSGB/s640/pharmacare+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-44421128632842276552012-07-18T22:32:00.001-06:002012-07-18T22:33:36.895-06:00July is officially Medicare Month in Saskatchewan<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjz9hjd9aDGOEi6Gp0DQEN2B4YMidXobK0TClXjzYBk8yIPrEXdN8o1kzuj4jh-UR9OBo3acbaA4WzvZhoxilKIAduh3w3kTy_Ij_pdHITdkvgMdRnIQp41JSe2p_5sVBfoodBpBUAyw5/s1600/certificate-July-2012-medicare-month-prov+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjz9hjd9aDGOEi6Gp0DQEN2B4YMidXobK0TClXjzYBk8yIPrEXdN8o1kzuj4jh-UR9OBo3acbaA4WzvZhoxilKIAduh3w3kTy_Ij_pdHITdkvgMdRnIQp41JSe2p_5sVBfoodBpBUAyw5/s640/certificate-July-2012-medicare-month-prov+copy.jpg" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Click above to enlarge</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-67263298356317910862012-07-18T12:55:00.000-06:002012-07-18T12:56:31.061-06:00A Healthy Society: Interview with Ryan Mieli<b>By Am Johal</b><br />
<div>
<i><a href="http://rabble.ca/">Rabble.ca</a></i></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cQ-2z2c9M-uuHOMjYQJgEPALhtyBT4-2y49AAqMZteg2cjxk3oFwsxHQvoKfnuDjlo9pBixJLjiLFeEw7BBy5ncrQTKNEXYyMU8bzWOS8y0vgwb5K7iv6eKnjIyLGs7gJUyEGNZCFinO/s1600/imgpress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cQ-2z2c9M-uuHOMjYQJgEPALhtyBT4-2y49AAqMZteg2cjxk3oFwsxHQvoKfnuDjlo9pBixJLjiLFeEw7BBy5ncrQTKNEXYyMU8bzWOS8y0vgwb5K7iv6eKnjIyLGs7gJUyEGNZCFinO/s320/imgpress.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Ryan Mieli</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
July 18, 2012 <br />
<br />
<b>Q. In your book, A Healthy Society, you <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c78GnlSHKvM" target="_blank">argue</a> that a focus on health can revive Canadian democracy. How so? </b><br />
<br />
The book starts with a <a href="http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/in-sickness-and-in-wealth/" target="_blank">discussion</a> of the disordered state of Canadian political discourse , from media coverage to the way in which parties present ideas. There is a general lack of focus, a lack of a common project for society. The WHO defines health as not just the absence of disease, but full social, mental and physical wellbeing. In A Healthy Society I propose that health is a useful shorthand for our goals as a society, and one which we can measure our success in reaching. <br />
<br />
Such a focus on health must move beyond healthcare to the upstream elements that impact health outcomes: the social determinants of health. Income, education, employment, social supports, housing, nutrition, these are the elements that make a greater difference in health and wellbeing. While these are disparate areas, the common thread of health allows us to address them in an evidence-based fashion.
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In </span><i style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.ryanmeili.ca/page12.html" target="_blank">A Healthy Society</a></i><span style="background-color: white;">, I take stories from my experience working with patients in inner-city Saskatoon, rural and Northern Saskatchewan, and rural Mozambique, and use them to illustrate the impact of the social determinants of health. I then dig further into specific determinants and ways in which changes in public discourse and the policies that flow from those changes could lead to better lives for my patients and for all Canadians. This leads to a discussion of democratic reforms that could help make the focus on social determinants of health a more effective and engaging tool for social change.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Q. With governments implementing neo-liberal policies over the last thirty years, there has been a massive erosion of social programs such as employment insurance and a national housing program. How have cuts in these areas impacted the health of Canadians? </b><br />
<br />
These cuts are examples of direct failures to meet key health determinants and improve the wellbeing of Canadians, they also contribute to increased inequality and disparity in wealth. Greater inequality, as demonstrated in research such as that of <a href="http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resource/the-spirit-level" target="_blank">Wilkinson and Pickett</a> in the UK, results in worse health outcomes not only for the poor, but also for the wealthy. While this is tempered somewhat by economic growth, health and wellbeing outcomes have not kept pace with increases in GDP as demonstrated by the Canadian Index of <a href="http://ciw.ca/" target="_blank">Wellbeing project </a>. Cuts to key services and government policies that have led to increased levels of inequality, have played a key role in undermining the impact of economic success on health outcomes. Improvements in health will not be reached through health care spending; this trend away from effective, universal social programs has to be reversed. <br />
<br />
<b>Q. What is the role of community health centers in the public healthcare system? </b><br />
<br />
Community health centres, like the <a href="http://www.saskatooncommunityclinic.ca/westside-clinic.htm" target="_blank">West Side Community Clinic</a> where I work, offer an example of health care services that stem from an understanding of the interconnectedness of the determinants of health. Rather than simply providing medical care, they often incorporate multiple disciplines of health services (counselling, physiotherapy, dentistry, social work) with upstream work such as patient outreach, health education programming, and active connections with community services such as addictions treatment or housing authorities. This allows for an approach that goes beyond a narrow medical model of health, and is one key element in moving to a model that emphasizes prevention and wellbeing rather than putting all resources in treatment. Having community boards also allows CHCs to be more responsive to community needs and to act as gathering points for information about changes in those needs. CHCs are an essential part of a primary health care strategy that leads to more comprehensive and cost-effective care. Of course, however, they can only be partially effective in improving health outcomes if the rest of the determinants of health that are outside their sphere of influence, are not addressed. This is one of the frustrations of working in a setting that offers excellent care but is limited by its scope, and is part of what led me to write A Healthy Society as a means of exploring the upstream changes needed to make good primary health care effective. <br />
<br />
<b>Q. Child vulnerability rates continue to increase across the country. What is the best way to address these issues? </b><br />
<br />
Like any social issue, the causes and responses are multiple and complex. Recognizing healthy children as the goal, and recognizing the impact of the social determinants in reaching that goal, gives us a starting point. From there we can dig into policy choices to improve child health. These could range from improving income supports for low income families, to availability and quality of <a href="http://www.kidskan.ca/" target="_blank">early childhood development programming</a>, and increased investment in affordable housing. <br />
<br />
<b>Q. Seniors poverty continues to be on the rise particularly in the current economic environment. What are some innovative approaches that can be taken to address the demographic shift that is happening in the country? </b><br />
<br />
Similarly, the issues for any vulnerable group need to be dug into and understood in order to make effective, evidence-based policy changes. A number of the options raised in the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/healthcare/final_report.pdf" target="_blank">Romanow Report</a>, including increased home care and pharmaceutical coverage, could alleviate some of the pressures on seniors, allowing them to stay in their homes longer and be able to afford the medications that can help to keep them out of hospital. This results in decreased costs for the health system, which ultimately should be reinvested in ensuring that the social determinants of health are met for Canadians, young and old. Unfortunately, excellent evidence-based recommendations such as these have often been left to languish as funds have been diverted to acute care in hospitals rather than preventive or primary care. This is part of why it's so disappointing to see the federal government moving away from the health accord and from establishing national standards in health, rather than applying funds in a targeted fashion to achieve substantial change. <br />
<br />
<b>Q. Policies and programs directed towards the Aboriginal community too often are not culturally sensitive nor are they delivered by Aboriginal organizations. Do you see a shift in health care delivery related to Aboriginal communities. What changes would you like to see? </b><br />
<br />
The transfer of control of health services to First Nations communities has been a mixed blessing. The ability to make decisions about health services offered and to be directly involved in identifying community health needs is a necessary and important step. We can and should involve communities even more in determining the best means to address the health issues they face.Unfortunately, this policy has too often also served as a means for governments to wash their hands of responsibility, including the key responsibility of adequately funding health services. Many bands have seen their health funding frozen at 1990s levels, despite populations that have grown quickly and despite new health challenges that have emerged. This results in an underfunding of key services and worse health outcomes. A responsible approach to health transfer needs to include transparency not only around decision-making in service provision and human resources, but also around the availability of sufficient funds to provide services. Too often on and off-reserve Aboriginal communities receive services that are less than those received by the rest of Canadians, which, given that they also are over-represented in terms of illness, is exactly the opposite of health equity. Involving communities at all levels of decision-making, including resource allocation, would lead to more effective and equitable service delivery. <br />
<br />
<b>Q. Anything else? </b><br />
<br />
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Medicare in Saskatchewan. At that time physicians went on strike, withdrawing their services in objection to universal health insurance. The single-payer, publicly funded system has proven to be a positive development, resulting in high quality services regardless of ability to pay, with physicians recognizing within a few short years that it was a great improvement on the previous system. What has often been lamented, however, is the failure to have proceeded to what Tommy Douglas called the Second Phase of Medicare, where we truly focus on keeping people well, not just treating them when they're ill. <br />
<br />
50 years later, groups like <a href="http://www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/" target="_blank">Canadian Doctors for Medicare</a> advocate strongly for an improved public system and will participate in the July 18, 2012 Day of Action for a 2014 Health Accord. This summer, <a href="http://www.doctorsforrefugeecare.ca/" target="_blank">Doctors for Refugee Care</a> has led protests across Canada against cuts to health care services for refugees. What a glorious change to see physicians taking to the streets in favour of universal care and in defense of the most vulnerable. <br />
<br />
One of the reasons for this change is the fact that social accountability, health equity and the social determinants of health have become staples of academic theory and medical education. However, these concepts have not necessarily penetrated into the public consciousness and the media and political discourse. It's my hope that A Healthy Society, by combining accessible and engaging patient stories with evidence-based reflection on policy options, can be part of bridging that gap between knowledge and practice, and of fueling the political will to reach the Second Phase of Medicare and build a truly healthy society.</div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-37894822142638117702012-07-17T17:35:00.000-06:002012-07-17T17:35:34.447-06:00Fighting back against health inequity and its origins<b>By Ted Schrecker</b><br />
<div>
<a href="http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=categories&layout=listings&id=2&Itemid=50&lang=en">CHNET-Works!</a>
</div>
<div>
17 July 2012<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHJ4eAp3lLIYb15S7oyVvdwDLVP5-tlvZC3189iInse5RhaXPwgKxEh6SubmPtkGXyQvPdZ5Z8uZkQkEPVNzzkThMqOxERd7rX2pKaz_NabUGCeBLRRz4hJmcUkH62oErpuZ5dfIsONkf/s1600/closed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHJ4eAp3lLIYb15S7oyVvdwDLVP5-tlvZC3189iInse5RhaXPwgKxEh6SubmPtkGXyQvPdZ5Z8uZkQkEPVNzzkThMqOxERd7rX2pKaz_NabUGCeBLRRz4hJmcUkH62oErpuZ5dfIsONkf/s320/closed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span>espite rising inequality of market incomes and solemn assertions by governments that compensatory social policies are unaffordable, there are Canadian voices calling for change, within and outside the health research and policy community. <br />
<br />
One of the most important of these is the <a href="http://www.cwhn.ca/">Canadian Women’s Health Network</a> (CWHN), which has just launched a new, user-friendly web site. CWHN has been going since 1993, functioning as a clearinghouse and information broker on a variety of women’s health issues ranging from depression to domestic violence. “Health is a human right that, because of poverty, politics and dwindling resources for health and social services, eludes many women” is part of its mission statement; recent links on its website connect users with a feature article and archived webinar on <a href="http://cwhn.ca/en/webinars/alcohol">women and alcohol</a> and a Conference Board of Canada report on the generally <a href="http://www.cwhn.ca/en/node/45013">mid-pack performance</a> of Canadian health care among OECD countries. CWHN is now seeking alternative sources of funding since support from our national government will end in 2013, as part of a larger pattern of <a href="http://cwhn.ca/en/news/swiftreaction">funding cuts</a> to women’s health research and advocacy. Gotta pay for those fighter jets and new prison cells somehow. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Another source of dissenting voices is the trade union movement. The Canadian Auto Workers, now Canada's largest private sector union representing workers in all sectors of the economy, has released a <a href="http://www.caw.ca/assets/images/Phase_Two_Tracking_Study.pdf">new study</a> that tracked the economic trajectories of 260 workers laid off from three Ontario manufacturing plants. Not surprisingly, the study found that major economic hardship followed; loss of incomes, benefits and security was routine. A long line of Canadian studies going back at least to Paul Grayson's work on manufacturing plant closures in the 1980s <a href="http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=37&Itemid=50&lang=en#Grayson">(1)</a> has found a similar pattern, as have <a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Downsizing-Of-America-The-New-York-Times-Staff/9780812928501-item.html?ikwid=downsizing+of+america&ikwsec=Home&cookieCheck=1">many in the United States</a>. The landmark <a href="http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=31&Itemid=50&lang=en">Code Red study in Hamilton</a> did not directly track worker earnings, but documented the consequences of manufacturing job losses in a city especially hard hit by deindustrialization. Depending on the future of this blog, a bibliography of key sources on what sociologists call 'downward mobility' as a consequence of economic restructuring, and the health effects, will be provided in a future posting. <br />
<br />
Few people now question the fact that earnings and economic opportunity in North America are rapidly polarizing, with consequences for health over the life course and across generations that we can only begin to anticipate. A more dramatic and accelerated preview is now unfolding in parts of Europe, with (for example) official unemployment rates of more than 20 percent overall, and more than 50 percent among young people, in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-greece-unemployment-idUSBRE86B0JD20120712">Greece</a> and <a href="http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/59/31/50686183.pdf">Spain</a>. Can economic polarization that consigns a substantial proportion of a nation’s population to permanent uncertainty and insecurity be recognized as a public health issue of overwhelming importance? Or are the public health professionals whose voices might drive that recognition already too solidly entrenched in the ranks of the comfortable? Just asking, as they say. <br />
<br />
<i>(1) Grayson P. Corporate Strategy and Plant Closures: The SKF Experience. Toronto: Our Times, 1985. Now apparently out of print, and certainly hard to find.</i></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-30414841361774917722012-07-17T17:15:00.000-06:002012-07-17T17:15:16.902-06:00Get back to the table!<i><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: x-large;">Health care activists send Premiers and Harper a message on National Day of Action on 2014 Health Accord</span></i><br />
<br />
<b>NUPGE News</b><br />
<div>
July 17, 2012</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://alltogethernow.nupge.ca/sites/alltogethernow.nupge.ca/files/documents/here_they_go_again_4web.pdf" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://nupge.ca/files/images/2011/here_they_go_again.jpg" width="228" /></a> The federal government is turning its back on health care at a time when we need elected leaders to help build a caring future for Canada, say advocates of publicly-funded health care who are organizing a National Day of Action on the 2014 Health Accord set for July 18. Many are concerned that the federal government has already walked away from the negotiating table before negotiations have even started with the provinces. The current Health Accord expires in 2014. <br />
<br />
At a meeting of Finance Ministers from across the country in December 2011, Flaherty announced that the federal government would extend the six per cent escalator clause, part of the 2004 Health Accord, for the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) only until the 2016-17 fiscal year. After that, until at least 2024, annual increases in the CHT will be tied to nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth. <br />
<br />
James Clancy, National President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), criticized the Harper government for acting unilaterally rather than working in partnership with the provinces to improve health care. <br />
<br />
"Canadians want the federal government to work in partnership with the provinces. not dictate terms and conditions," says Clancy. "Where was the consultation or negotiations? How are the provinces health care needs and priorities reflected in this announcement?" <br />
<br />
Now, in the lead up to a premiers meeting on health care in Halifax on July 25 - July 27, Clancy is urging the provinces to work with Canadians to pressure the government to go back to the table and negotiate fairly. <br />
<br />
"There is still much more to be accomplished at the negotiating table," Clancy noted. "The provinces will find common ground with Canadians on this issue. In addition to more investment, Canadians want the federal government to work with the provinces to fill in the gaps in the continuum of care. They want to see new programs and services in the areas of home care, long term care, prescription drug coverage (pharmacare) and mental health." <br />
<br />
Some provinces have already come forward in opposition to the federal government’s actions. If the provinces work together to get the federal government back to the negotiating table, they can get down to the work of creating a new accord and building a caring future for health care in Canada. <br />
<br />
More information: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://alltogethernow.nupge.ca/sites/alltogethernow.nupge.ca/files/documents/here_they_go_again_4web.pdf">NUPGE's Negotiating Federal Transfers to the Provinces report: Here they go again: Less sharing, more inequality</a></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-87420086598466880792012-07-16T19:56:00.000-06:002012-07-16T19:56:37.183-06:00Sick People or Sick Societies?<b>By Jill Eisen </b><br />
<div>
<i><a href="http://canadiandimension.com/" target="_blank">Canadian Dimension</a></i></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQTy6t3cNtfMVvp4j6QNbz4GIn5QkqUU6yJ9SXou7Y_I7B3kCkKvEglJUI8U23tjX52TzTjDsx_Lauzt2FXT9iqHVWM0KZAa2MRya14f-ABNB-ovdAtrKDF8xBtaSKnWyKUmkgGyc89ez/s1600/Sick-Society-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQTy6t3cNtfMVvp4j6QNbz4GIn5QkqUU6yJ9SXou7Y_I7B3kCkKvEglJUI8U23tjX52TzTjDsx_Lauzt2FXT9iqHVWM0KZAa2MRya14f-ABNB-ovdAtrKDF8xBtaSKnWyKUmkgGyc89ez/s320/Sick-Society-l.jpg" /></a>July/August 2012 <br />
<br />
The words “health care” and “crisis” have become inseparable in any discussion about health policy in Canada. Stories about long waiting lists for surgery, interminable delays to see specialists, spiralling costs and the spectre of a two-tier system flood our media. With baby boomers reaching their senior years, things are only going to get worse. As numerous studies and Royal Commissions have pointed out, there’s much that can be done to make the system more efficient and responsive. But unless we do more in the way of prevention, the system threatens to collapse under its own weight. <br />
<br />
Our healthcare system is more aptly named our sickness care system. It does a pretty good job of treating illness, but when it comes to prevention, it’s mostly up to us: don’t smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, keep physically active, take time to relax. It’s hard to avoid the messages that bombard us from the media and our doctors that our health is our responsibility. Healthy lifestyles are no doubt good for us, but it turns out that the social conditions in which we live and work are more important in determining our health than either the health care system or our personal habits. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
It’s hardly a new idea. Back in the mid-19th century, the Council of Berlin asked the brilliant German pathologist Rudolph Virchow to investigate a typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia. He reported back that the problem was caused by “mismanagement of the region by the Berlin Government.” Among his recommendations were full democracy for Upper Silesia, a shift in the burden of taxes from the poor to the rich, universal education, and the separation of church and state. Needless to say, the members of the Berlin Council were not pleased. They claimed that Virchow’s report wasn’t a scientific document at all, but was rather a political tract. To which Virchow retorted, “medicine is a social science and politics is nothing but medicine writ large!” He added, “If medicine is to fulfill her great task, then she must enter the political and social life. Do we not always find the diseases of the populace traceable to defects in society?” <br />
<br />
Indeed, some of the greatest gains in health have come from laws addressing those defects; laws banning child labour, setting minimum wages, creating the 40-hour work week, establishing social safety nets, and mandating universal access to education. None of these reforms were passed in the name of health, but all have contributed enormously to our health and longevity. Unfortunately, our political leaders today are as reluctant as the Berlin councillors to recognize the connection between social conditions and health, preferring instead to blame the victim. To drive home the point, the diseases that plague North Americans today have been labelled lifestyle diseases. Heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and even cancer have been blamed on our wayward habits — too many fatty foods and sweets, too much alcohol, too little exercise. But a large body of research over the last 30 years has confirmed the importance of the social realm in determining our health. <br />
<br />
<b>The heart of the matter </b><br />
<br />
Leonard Syme is considered the father of the discipline known as the social determinants of health. He’s an epidemiologist at the University of California at Berkeley who has spent much of his career exploring the causes of heart disease. For the last half century, the reigning theory has been the diet/heart hypothesis — the idea that a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol raises blood cholesterol levels, which, in turn, leads to heart disease. The diet/heart hypothesis is received wisdom in both lay and medical populations, yet Syme says there’s not a shred of evidence to support it. After doing an exhaustive search of the medical literature, he failed to find a single study proving that the amount of fat in your diet has anything to do with either serum cholesterol or heart disease. <br />
<br />
In a groundbreaking study in the 1970s, Syme and his colleagues followed a group of Japanese men who migrated from Japan to California. They found a staggering five-fold increase in heart disease rates among the California migrants. Their first assumption, given the diet/heart hypothesis, was that adoption of a fatty Western diet was the main culprit. Yet, according to Syme, “the Japanese in California did eat a more Western diet than they did in Japan, but that didn’t in any way explain the five-fold increase.” In fact, the increase couldn’t be fully explained by any of the usual risk factors, including diet, smoking, high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels. What the researchers did discover, to the surprise of all, was that those men who retained “traditional Japanese ways,” who kept strong ties with the Japanese community, attended Japanese churches, went to Japanese doctors, lawyers and the like, had only one fifth the heart disease rates of their counterparts who integrated more fully into American life, despite the fact that both groups were eating a more fatty diet. In trying to understand why, Syme made several trips to Japan and interviewed hundreds of people. Wherever he went, he says, people kept telling him, “the real problem is that Americans are so lonely.” The Japanese migrant study spawned a whole new line of research demonstrating that social support and human connectedness are more important in determining people’s health than any of the usually cited risk factors. <br />
<br />
<b>Preventing diabetes </b><br />
<br />
Type 2 diabetes is the disease that’s most directly linked to people’s personal behaviours. It’s also the fastest growing chronic condition in Canada and threatens to overwhelm our health care system. According to Richard Glazier, a family physician and senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, with a proper diet and sufficient exercise, the disease is highly preventable. Yet, despite years of advice about healthy lifestyles, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is only getting worse. To come to grips with the problem, Glazier and fellow physician Gillian Booth headed a 2007 study mapping the incidence of diabetes in the City of Toronto. They weren’t surprised to find that diabetes rates were highest amongst low-income groups and recent immigrants, but what did surprise them was how the incidence varied by neighbourhood. The suburbs and outlying areas had far higher rates than many downtown neighbourhoods, even though these housed some of the lowest-income groups and highest concentrations of recent immigrants. On further investigation, they found that the areas with the highest diabetes rates had very poor access to healthy food, fewer amenities like parks, community centres and bike paths, poorer access to public transportation and greater dependence on cars. Those factors, combined with low income and a food system that makes junk food cheaper than healthy alternatives, have created a perfect storm when it comes to type 2 diabetes. According to Glazier, addressing what he calls “upstream factors” would do far more to prevent the disease than focussing exclusively on diet and exercise. <br />
<br />
<b>The social gradient in health </b><br />
<br />
The biggest upstream factor when it comes to health is income. It’s been known for as long as we have had records that those at the top of the social ladder are healthier and live longer than those at the bottom. In Canada, there’s a four-and-a -half-year gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest quintiles for men, and a two-year gap for women. If you look at premature deaths before age 75, the gap is considerably bigger. The poor bear a greater share of the burden of virtually every disease and condition, from heart disease, diabetes and cancer to addictions and mental health problems. It makes intuitive sense that this would be so. The poor live in substandard housing and blighted neighbourhoods, can’t afford healthy food, are more likely to drink and smoke, and live stress-filled lives with little economic security. But research over the past 30 years has shown that it’s not just a matter of a gap between the poor and everyone else. In every society that’s been studied there’s a social gradient in health; for almost every disease and disorder, the higher you are on the social ladder, the healthier and longer-lived you’re likely to be. <br />
<br />
According to Richard Glazier, in Canada “even those earning over $100,000, who live in wonderful homes, take expensive vacations and can afford healthy food, don’t do as well as the super rich.” For some diseases, he says, the gap between the middle and upper income groups is as big as that between the middle classes and the poor. While researchers don’t know exactly what’s causing the gradient, Glazier says there’s obviously something beyond diet and exercise that is affecting us all to varying degrees. He believes it has to do with our level of psychosocial stress, which in turn is affected by the amount of control we have over our lives, the amount of social support we have to buffer whatever stresses we encounter and how we feel about ourselves and our place in society. These are all strongly related to our position in the social hierarchy. <br />
<br />
<b>Inequality matters </b><br />
<br />
Social hierarchies will always be with us, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever completely eliminate the social gradient in health. But we can do something about its steepness. In their 2009 book The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, British epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson and co-author Kate Pickett analyzed health and social data for 22 of the world’s developed countries and from the 50 American states. Their findings were consistent and stunning. On almost every measure of human health and well-being, from life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity and mental illness to teenage birth rates, addictions and homicides, they found that more equal societies performed better than less equal ones. What’s more, the gradient in health was steeper. Even those at the top of the economic ladder were worse off in more unequal societies than their counterparts in more equal societies. Wilkinson and Pickett stress that the differences between countries have nothing to do with absolute levels of income. What the data shows is that, once a country reaches a certain level of development, what matters is not how rich the country is, but how equal it is. <br />
<br />
The US, one of the world’s richest countries and also one of the most unequal, scored at or near the bottom of the scale on almost every indicator Wilkinson and Pickett examined, while Japan and the Scandinavian countries, which are among the world’s most equal countries, did best. As usual, Canada was somewhere in the middle. <br />
<br />
Although the US has the world’s highest per-capita spending on health care, it ranks 50th in global life expectancy. Within the country, there’s an enormous gap in life expectancy between the rich and poor. The gap is as large as 20 years between rich whites living in Maryland and poor blacks living just 20 miles away in Washington, DC. That’s one year of life for every mile. <br />
<br />
While the dismal mortality rates among the US poor can be attributed, in part, to people’s personal behaviours, the gap has everything to do with the conditions under which people live and work. According to a report by the World Health Organization’s <a href="http://bit.ly/Nhy971">Commission on the Social Determinants of Health</a>, “Unequal distribution of health-damaging experiences is not in any sense a ‘natural’ phenomenon, but is a result of the toxic combination of poor social policies and programs, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics.” <br />
<br />
But those variables are amenable to change. Nancy Krieger, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, investigated changes in the rate of premature mortality and infant death in the US from 1960 to 2002. She found that inequities shrank from 1966 to 1980, at the same time as socio-economic disparities in the US were declining. She credits the creation of Medicaid and Medicare, community health centres, the US war on poverty and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Since the 1980s with the advent of neoliberalism, the mortality gap has steadily widened, in tandem with the growth in income inequality. <br />
<br />
Similar changes have taken place in Britain. Not coincidentally, the health gradient got steeper during the Thatcher years, which were accompanied by social cutbacks, employment insecurity and a growing income gap between rich and poor. According to Michael Marmot, Director of the International Institute for Society and Health at University College, London and head of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, there was a five-and-a-half-year difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest men in 1970. By the end of the Thatcher years, that had grown to a nine-and-a-half-year difference. <br />
<br />
<b>Why greater inequality leads to worse health </b><br />
<br />
As Marmot says, it’s not how much you have that counts, it’s what you can do with what you have. If a society provides social security, education, health care, transportation, recreational opportunities, child care, parental leave and so on, than income doesn’t matter that much. But if you have to buy all those things yourself, income makes a huge difference. The less you have, the greater your stress load. And yet, as societies become more unequal, those with the power to influence public decisions are less likely to support investment in the public sphere. Alex Himelfarb, former Clerk of Canada’s Privy Council, puts it this way: “When inequality grows too great, you cannot find a public interest, because people’s experience of society is so diverse.” As a result, the rich secede from the public sphere and support declines for everything from public infrastructure and education to social security and health care. <br />
<br />
The growth of income inequality has other insidious effects which undermine people’s health. The widening of the gap between the rich and the rest of us exacerbates the consumer anxiety that is so pervasive in our culture. As the rich get richer, they spend more; they build bigger mansions, install fancier kitchens and throw more elaborate parties. Cornell University economist Robert Frank says this ups the ante for everyone and sets up what he calls a series of spending cascades. The average house size in the US is now 50 percent larger than it was 30 years ago. The average wedding costs $28,000 compared to $11,000, adjusted for inflation, in 1980. But while incomes for the top 1 percent have soared, incomes for the vast majority have stagnated or declined. For the middle classes, the pressure to “keep up” has meant going ever deeper into debt, and with more debt comes more anxiety and stress. <br />
<br />
For the poor, the pressures of growing inequality are even worse. As the standards rise for what constitutes a good life, the poor are increasingly left behind. As Michael Marmot says, “if those lower down on the income scale can’t fully participate in what it means to be part of society, that creates a huge amount of stress. If your neighbour’s kid has the latest sneakers and goes on skiing holidays, you want that for your kid too — you want to be a full social participant.” <br />
<br />
<b>Where does Canada stand? </b><br />
<br />
In 1974, former Liberal Minister of Health Marc Lalonde published a report titled A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians. It was the first public document in any country to emphasize that the major determinants of health lay outside the health care system. Since then, Canada has been a leader in the field of social determinants of health. Academics and health policy analysts have held major conferences and published scores of papers dealing with everything from the importance of early childhood education, to the need to rebuild our cities and fix our broken food system, to the need to give workers more control in the workplace, to the impacts of poverty and isolation in old age. The evidence is compelling, yet for the last three decades government policy has moved in precisely the opposite direction. Since the mid-1980s, following the election of Brian Mulroney and the imposition of his neoliberal agenda, social programs have been slashed and income inequality has grown. Fully one third of all economic growth in Canada has gone to the top 1 percent, while wages and incomes for the majority of Canadians have stagnated. At the same time, life has become far less secure for the majority of Canadians as job security vanishes, pensions come under fire and the social safety net weakens. The Harper government’s attack on unions and its planned cuts to Old Age Security will only worsen these trends. <br />
<br />
A World Health Organization document on the Social Determinants of Health states that “if policy fails to address the links between social inequality and health, it not only ignores the most powerful determinants of health in modern societies, it also ignores one of the most important social justice issues.” By working toward a more fair and just society our health will follow. So too might our happiness. <br />
<br />
-<i>Jill Eisen is a freelance writer and documentary radio producer, primarily for CBC Radio’s Ideas program.</i></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3595450259817940411.post-25350761738380134602012-07-16T15:37:00.001-06:002012-07-16T15:37:54.481-06:00Unsung health heroes<b>By Del Hancock</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd97AtwU-TidnhydIHCcrWykRQTt9LHOizM_zhyphenhyphenbzrqqqBrdz-X1CN7Nx1b3iTjEYbSxhCD9rbxbuaO9TRWjNa5s2JFcvEBEU6-rsBcss07h1HT2ql5B_DwBl8a76DuBwhzERusySWJu1/s1600/ab_18-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd97AtwU-TidnhydIHCcrWykRQTt9LHOizM_zhyphenhyphenbzrqqqBrdz-X1CN7Nx1b3iTjEYbSxhCD9rbxbuaO9TRWjNa5s2JFcvEBEU6-rsBcss07h1HT2ql5B_DwBl8a76DuBwhzERusySWJu1/s320/ab_18-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
Letter to the Editor:<br />Regina Leader Post<br /> July 16, 2012 <br />Also read <b><u><a href="http://nextyearcountrynews.blogspot.ca/2010/12/unsung-heroes-in-saskatchewans-struggle.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></u></b>.</div>
<div>
<br />During the recent celebration of the 50th anniversary of medicare in Saskatchewan, we paid homage to Tommy Douglas for his great contribution to health care in Canada.<br /><br />There are also the unsung heroes of the fight for medicare who warrant the Order of Canada or at least recognition for their devotion to duty. During the absence of doctors in their protest against the health-care changes, communities relied on the help of nurses. They didn't worry about lawsuits and I doubt "standing orders" even existed. Common sense was more prevalent.<br /><br />We, personally, were recipients of outstanding help from a nurse in Fillmore. Her name happens to be Eileen Nurse. She is past 90 now and living in retirement in Regina. There are probably thousands of people who would agree that she went far beyond the call of duty to help people. There must be other communities who remember people like Eileen, who during that time were called upon to help with the sick.<br /><br />Let's honour those people and name others who were on the "front lines" in time of crisis.<br /><br /><i>Del Hancock, Fillmore</i></div>Next Year Countryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08057931166900219143noreply@blogger.com0