Canada Health Act: Proposed Reorganization, Part IV

Effect on Government Programs

1) Once these changes are implemented the Canadian health-care system should continue to evolve, guided by predictable and fiscally justifiable demands for increased tax-preserved healthcare access. The need for tax-based revenue for other purposes should not be affected.

2) National goals for health care may now be facilitated by taking advantage of the competition between partnerships. Public health problems such as smoking or obesity could become subjects for national competition with reward grants being apportioned based upon the success of each partnership or regional health authority at the end of the competition. Many national goals in health-care could be approached in this manner. The more successful groups would advertise their achievements in order to convince more people to be their patient. The reward money would also augment their ability to provide health care.

3) As physician-partnerships become more sophisticated in their approach to the delivery of healthcare they will begin to identify pockets of patients whose behavior or social circumstance create an unnecessary drain upon the resources available. It will be in their interests to then devise programs which correct the problem and improve the overall welfare of the patients under their care. These physician-partnerships then become agents for social change. The social compact with medicine will have come full circle. Physicians will have primary health responsibility for the citizens’ enjoyment of life which now operates at a fundamental economic level.

Additional Fiscal Cost to Government

The government will need to provide some startup funds for each physician partnership. National competitive health programs may need to be funded out of the public health budget. Redeployment of federal and provincial government resources precipitated by the implementation of this system may free up further funds to aid in the transition to a market competitive healthcare system.

General Comments

Adoption of this approach to health care reform in Canada will lead the way toward a new definition of responsible government in a civilized society. It will reaffirm the principle of universal care while introducing the concept of direct personal responsibility. The government serves as the guarantor of sufficient funds for health care without interfering with the individual right to determine one’s own health needs. It will succeed to the degree that all parties contribute to the system’s transparency. This approach will answer the objections raised by the recent Supreme Court decision.

End of Part IV