Don Butler, Postmedia NewsPublished: Monday, May 27, 2013

Private drug plans that provide coverage to 19 million Canadians are not sustainable in their current form, says an executive at Great West Life Assurance, one of Canada's largest insurance companies.

By Jim Stanford, Ottawa Citizen November 26, 2013

Where public employees provide a genuinely essential service (like fire, police, and some health services), there’s no debate: in place of strikes or lockouts, a neutral arbitration system should replicate collective bargaining outcomes without work stoppage. But other public sector workers must have the same rights as anyone else in our society to organize themselves and promote their interests, up to and including withdrawing their labour if that’s necessary to get a deal.

decision-makers throughout the country are now seriously considering an alternative funding model referred to as activity-based funding (ABF). Under this system, hospital services are classified prospectively into clinically meaningful “bundles” of care that use similar levels of resources.

In contrast with global budgeting, ABF pays hospitals per episode of care for each patient served. In simple terms, the money follows the patient. Under this system, hospital services are classified prospectively into clinically meaningful “bundles” of care that use similar levels of resources. These bundles take into account patient characteristics such as diagnosis and complexity, along with anticipated volume and intensity of care. Different jurisdictions use various terms to describe these bundles of services; for example, they might be called “diagnosis-related groups” in the United States and “health-resource groups” or “case-mix groups” in Canada.1 Various costing methods are used to set a “price” for the bundle of services provided to each patient during a hospital stay.

Newsletter November 22, 2013 The B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) has issued its final decision clarifying the status of licensed practical nurse (LPN) seniority and service entitlements following Bill 18. Bill 18 is provincial government legislation that, on April 15, 2013, moved LPNs from the Facilities Bargaining Unit (FBU) and the Community Bargaining Unit (CBU) to the Nurses Bargaining Unit (NBU).

Conference of Provincial-Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health November 25, 2013, Edmonton, Alberta, Health, Provincial-Territorial, Deputy Ministers

MISSISSAUGA, Nov. 22, 2013 – Queen’s Park served as the backdrop on November 18 as a group of Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) met and shared ideas with Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) and other government officials to help strengthen Ontario’s health care system.

Submitted by nhalper on Fri, 2013-11-22 15:18 Help deliver a message to Ontario's premier about the need for more RN positions. Background The warning signs of a shortage of RN jobs are glaring: Too many RNs continue to experience excessive workload.

Job openings have dried up as RN employment has stagnated. This particularly impacts new graduate RNs, 12.9 per cent of whom were unemployed in 2012 and seeking nursing employment. A further 4.1 per cent were working outside of nursing and seeking nursing employment. Of those with nursing employment, only 61 per cent had full-time employment. This is worrisome because our new grads are very mobile, and once they move away, we know that it is very difficult to bring them back. Almost 6,000 Ontario RNs are working in nursing outside of Ontario, and over 3,000 of those are working in the U.S. And that doesn’t count all the out-of-province Ontario RNs who have let their Ontario registrations lapse.

ARNPRIOR, ON, Nov. 22, 2013 /CNW/ - The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and CUPE local 2198 are calling on the administration of Arnprior and District Hospital, to keep open 6 acute care beds, which have been primarily closed since June 2013. CUPE local 2198 represents staff at the hospital.

The budgets for Ontario hospitals have been frozen as a result of a 5-year funding freeze introduced by the Liberals and supported by the Progressive Conservative party and by the NDP. Over the last several summers, bed closures in Arnprior have extended from 15 weeks to 17weeks and now much longer.

Friday, November 22, 2013 by Common Dreams

21 Ways the Canadian Health Care System is Better than Obamacare by Ralph Nader

Dear America: Costly complexity is baked into Obamacare. No health insurance system is without problems but Canadian style single-payer full Medicare for all is simple, affordable, comprehensive and universal. In the early 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson enrolled 20 million elderly Americans into Medicare in six months. There were no websites. They did it with index cards! Below please find 21 Ways the Canadian Health Care System is Better than Obamacare.

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder Sat Nov 23 2013

OTTAWA -- The Ontario government can try to force down the price of generic prescription drugs--even if it hurts pharmacies-- after receiving the blessing of the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision Friday, the court ruled Ontario can ban pharmacies from selling their own private label generic drugs. Justice Rosalie Abella wrote that the regulations are meant to ensure "pharmacies make money exclusively from providing professional health-care services, instead of sharing in the revenues of drug manufacturers by setting up their own private label subsidiaries."

Montreal Gazette Mon Nov 25 2013

CLSC medical clinics should stay open like some dépanneurs at corner gas stations - 24 hours a day, seven days a week - Québec Solidaire health critic Amir Khadir suggested Saturday as a way of reinforcing the public health care system. Khadir, a physician by profession and member of the National Assembly for Mercier riding, made the proposal while campaigning on behalf of Québec solidaire candidate Édith Laperle, who is running in a Dec. 9 byelection against Quebec Liberal Party Leader Philippe Couillard.

The Barrie Examiner Tue Nov 26 2013

I am concerned with the way our health care is becoming a two-tier system. Why is it that the government can stop OHIP coverage for certain medical care, while government employees are all covered for them 100% of the time with their group benefits? Both myself and a close friend of mine need surgery. I have an unstable shoulder and he has a torn ACL in his knee.

Winnipeg Free Press Tue Nov 26 2013

Vancouver -- Waiting has become a defining characteristic of the Canadian health care experience, but the consequences imposed on patients by delayed access to universally accessible care are too often ignored in the health care debate. To be clear, some Canadians can wait (and wait...) with minimal consequence. Not so for others. Long delays can lead to a further deterioration in the untreated condition, meaning a more complex and difficult treatment at the end of the wait and possibly a poorer outcome. For some, long waits may condemn them to life-long disability or even death. The potentially fatal nature of waiting was not lost on the Supreme Court of Canada when it ruled against the public monopoly in health insurance in Quebec in 2005.

Montreal Gazette Thu Oct 17 2013

A dramatic drop in projected profits by engineering firm SNC-Lavalin has raised questions about whether one of its marquee projects - construction of the $1.3-billion McGill University Health Centre superhospital - is facing cost overruns.

The Montreal-based conglomerate did not mention the MUHC by name, but the superhospital is its biggest health-care project to date.

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 A health-care deductible -- journal article and editorial

In an interview with the Journal of New Brunswick Studies, former provincial health minister Dennis Furlong makes the case for a health-care deductible to control utilization. “We have to have some accountability and responsibility among both consumers and providers. Right now, when patients walk in their doctor's door there is no cost. It’s carte blanche for patients and it’s carte blanche for doctors and all other health care providers.” He says the deductible would be prorated by income so that some would end up paying very little. He says if the deductible was $1,000 for some people they would pay the first $1,000 of services they consume and this amount would come off their tax bill at the end of the year.

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 Ottawa called on to lead infectious disease surveillance

The Public Health Agency of Canada needs to create a national surveillance system for tracking infectious diseases. It is currently up to the provinces to do this, and this has resulted in a patchwork system, they say. In his 2013 Report on the State of Public Health in Canada this week, Dr. David Butler-Jones says that at least 8,000 Canadians a year die from infections that are increasingly caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He says mortality rates from C. difficile infections ha

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 More work to do on Ontario long-term care issues

A second progress report has been issued on Ontario’s action plan to address abuse and neglect in long-term care homes. The Long-Term Care Task Force on Resident Care and Safety said that while progress continues on all 18 of its recommended priority actions, four priorities for this year include the need to declare resident care and safety as a top priority, establishing quality committees

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 Paper says Ontario patient rostering needs fixing

The primary care rostering system in Ontario needs to be tightened up, the C.D. Howe Institute says in a paper this week. It says that while doctors in group family medicine practices face a financial penalty if their rostered patients seek care elsewhere, there is no such disincentive for patients.