Category Archives: national health accord

Most Canadians doubt health care system prepared to handle ‘tsunami’ of aging boomers, new poll shows

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From:     Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News  13/08/19

Three in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Canadian Physiotherapy Association/CNW GroupThree in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Canadians have little faith the country’s health system is prepared to handle the needs of a looming “tsunami” of aging boomers, a new poll has found.

Six in 10 Canadians surveyed said they lack confidence in the health system’s ability to care for Canada’s rapidly greying population.

Women, as well as Canadians aged 34 to 54, and those already caring for an elderly person, are among those least confident that hospitals and long-term care facilities can handle the demands of a population that is living longer than at any other time in the nation’s history, according to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual report card on health.

Only in Quebec does a majority (54 per cent) believe that hospitals and long-term care facilities in their area are sufficient to meet the needs of the elderly, according to the survey.

The anxiety Canadians have about health care in their so-called golden years is both real and well-founded

The Ipsos Reid poll of 1,000 Canadians was released to coincide with Monday’s opening of the CMA’s annual meeting in Calgary, where main items on the agenda include a special session devoted entirely to end-of-life care issues.

“The anxiety Canadians have about health care in their so-called golden years is both real and well-founded,” outgoing CMA president Dr. Anna Reid said in a statement released with the poll.

All levels of government, including the federal government, “need to act to address the demographic tsunami that is heading toward the health care system,” she said.

A vast majority of Canadians — 93 per cent — support a national, seniors’ health strategy for home care and long-term care, the poll found, with support highest in Alberta and Ontario, as well as among women and Canadians nearing retirement age (55 to 65).

Three in five Canadians surveyed said they will have to rely on the public system for home care and long-term care if they need it later in life.

Half are “very” concerned about maintaining their health in their retirement years; seven in 10 are worried about their financial future, the poll found.

Those already caring for an older adult are among those most worried about there not being enough services should they ever need home or long-term care in their own old age.

Reid, who has been caring for her own elderly father, who suffers from dementia, said more resources are needed for nursing care, home-based care and palliative care, particularly in smaller communities. “We know how to do good palliative care, it’s just not being practised across the board,” she said in an interview.

We could be saving the system an enormous amount of money by providing far more support in the home environment

It costs nearly $1,000 a day to keep a senior in a hospital bed, and $126 a day for a bed in a long-term care facility, said Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, incoming president of the doctors’ group.

“To keep them in home with supportive home care and assisted living costs about $35 to $50 a day,” he said. “We could be saving the system an enormous amount of money by providing far more support in the home environment.”

The average life expectancy of Canadians has increased by more than 30 years since the early 1900s, to 78 for men and 83 for women in 2011. But the number of years lived in good health is sliding. The majority of today’s seniors have at least one chronic condition; as many as one in four has two or more.

Overall, the 2011 census counted nearly five million people aged 65 and older in Canada.

By 2031, 22.8 per cent of the population will be 65 or older, jumping to one quarter — 25.5 per cent — by 2061.

The Ipsos telephone poll was conducted between July 17 and July 26. A sample this size is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points.

Three-quarters, or 75 per cent, of those surveyed gave an “A” or “B” grade to the overall quality of health services. However, views on the future are split — about half think health services will get better and the other half believe things will get worse.

Only about half gave an “A” or B” grade to access to diagnostic equipment such as MRIs and CT scans, or access to specialists. The marks were worse for mental health, with only 41 per cent of those surveyed giving an “A” or “B” grade for access to mental health services.

Few — 29 per cent — gave the federal government top marks in dealing with health care in Canada.

Canada’s Top Labour Leaders Call on Premiers to Oppose Harper’s Low-wage Agenda

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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 25, 2013) – At a meeting with Canada’s premiers, labour leaders from across the country called for unity among the provinces in rejecting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s low-wage agenda. While the premiers gather for their Council of the Federation meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake this week, the presidents of Canada’s provincial and territorial federations of labour are hosting parallel meetings where jobs, pensions and healthcare are the big-ticket items.

The labour federation presidents called on the premiers to put pressure on the federal government to double the Canada Pension Plan and renew the 2004 Health Accord, but the main focus of their talks was on jobs, training, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, Employment Insurance and Canada’s labour market.

“The Harper government is driving down wages and working conditions for all Canadians,” said Lana Payne, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour. “The latest changes to Employment Insurance be terrible for the labour market and damaging for the economy as well. They will hurt industries and employers in some regions of the country but they will hit the most vulnerable workers hardest, with fewer and fewer unemployed workers being eligible for benefits.”

The federation of labour presidents encouraged all the premiers to call on the federal government to scrap the Employment Insurance changes.

Today 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed while the country faces many labour market challenges, including the rise of precarious work, the exploitation of migrant workers, cuts to Employment Insurance and reduced investment in job training programs for vulnerable workers – all of which highlight the need for a renewed focus on creating jobs for Canadians.

“The provinces must reject this low-wage agenda,” said Sid Ryan, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “The premiers have an opportunity to use their leadership to engage in substantive dialogue and take action to make sure that Canadians have good jobs. One way they can do this is by establishing Labour Market Partners Forums in every province to provide vision, collaboration and leadership on job creation.”

Already established in Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, a Labour Market Partners Forum is a tripartite body that would facilitate collaboration and dialogue between government, labour and employers, particularly on employment strategies. This coming together of stakeholders would help to develop economic strategies that would allow the provinces and territories to compete in a global economy on the basis of high productivity and quality rather than low wages.

There is no shortage of labour market issues to be discussed in this kind of tripartite forum, including job training programs, support for unemployed persons, regular increases to the minimum wage and protections for migrant workers.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is being used to fundamentally transform our country’s labour market in ways that are detrimental to the interests of ordinary Canadians,” said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. “Provincial governments should follow Manitoba and Saskatchewan in implementing legislation that protects migrant workers from abuse and exploitation. The provinces should join the growing chorus of critics calling on the federal government to scrap the low-skill stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. These workers are being used as pawns to drive down wages and displace Canadians, while also allowing employers to shirk their responsibility to train Canadians. The Premiers need to stand up to the Harper government on this important issue.”

Together, Canada’s provincial and territorial labour federations give voice to over three million workers, represented by the Alberta Federation of Labour, British Columbia Federation of Labour, Canadian Labour Congress, Manitoba Federation of Labour, New Brunswick Federation of Labour, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, Northern Territories Federation of Labour, Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, Ontario Federation of Labour, Prince Edward Island Federation of Labour, Fédération des travailleurs et travailleises du Québec, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and Yukon Federation of Labour.

Time for Premiers to Stand Up to Federal Bullies on Health Care

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Paul Moist

Paul Moist

National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees

07/24/2013

In order to ensure that all Canadians receive the same high-quality, publicly delivered health care in every community across the country, provincial and territorial governments need stable and adequate funding from the federal government

When Canada’s premiers meet for the annual Council of the Federation this week, the future of health care is a critical item on the agenda.

The timing of this meeting is critical. It is the last meeting of our premiers before the 10 year Health Accord expires. The accord sets the terms for health care funding and priorities between the federal and provincial governments. Too bad Prime Minister Harper is not even taking the time to meet with premiers for a discussion.

The federal government has been neglecting its responsibility to protect public Medicare. We are facing a federal government that has abdicated its role in upholding national standards. They cut funding to the Health Council of Canada, the body responsible for ensuring national standards for quality care were met. They have walked away from discussions with the provinces to control the cost of drugs and forge a national drug coverage program. They cut health care funding for veterans and refugees, and refused to uphold the Canada Health Act’s protections for patients against user fees and extra-billing.

Now, with a new phase of funding agreements on the table, the federal Conservative government has presented a plan for health care that will mean $36 billion less for Medicare over the next 10 years.

The cuts start in 2014 with elimination of Canada Health Tranfser (CHT) equalization, then sharp cuts in CHT increases beginning in 2017. Instead of increasing at 6 per cent a year, the health transfer will be tied to economic growth, with a 3 per cent floor. Over time, the federal government’s share of health care spending will shrink to a small fraction of its original 50 per cent contribution — down to 18.6 per cent by 2024. This is not acceptable.

The federal government needs to be a full partner with the provinces and territories on health care. We need national standards for health care we need to uphold the Canada Health Act. This is important for all Canadians but cuts to health care funding will have deeper impacts on some of us. Women will continue to shoulder the biggest burden, as the primary providers of both paid and unpaid care. Canadians marginalized by class, gender, race, disability and other oppressions suffer most when federal funding and national standards are weakened.

CUPE also wants to make sure that we avoid a repeat of what happened in the 1990s when Federal health transfers were cut. Successive levels of government cut services and privatized them, and ended up imposing higher costs for families and more unpaid work for women; longer waits and two-tier care; more hospital overcrowding and avoidable deaths from medical errors and health care associated infections; and worse quality and higher costs for services delivered by the private sector. This is not a scenario we can look forward to with equanimity, not only because CUPE represents front-line health care workers but because all CUPE members, no matter where they work, depend upon Canada’s health care system.

You know that the Federal government has choices. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown that, instead of downloading financial problems onto other levels of government, Ottawa can increase program spending and transfers by $25 billion in 2012 alone — and more over time — while maintaining fiscal sustainability. Over 87 per cent of Canadians — in every region of the country and across party lines — support public solutions to make health care stronger.

We need a federal government that is invested in improving our health care — not one that slowly erodes the public services that make Canada great. We need a federal government that will protect Medicare by vigorously enforcing the enforce Canada Health Act’s ban on user fees and extra billing. We need a government that will be proactive about creating national strategies to address pressing issues in health care, like health associated illnesses. Finally we need a government that is willing to invest in improving Medicare — by creating a national continuing care program that will care for our growing senior population in a publicly-funded and publicly-delivered system and establishing a national pharmacare program.

The role of a premier is to stand up to federal government bullying on behalf of all Canadians. We are asking the Premiers to send a strong message to the Harper Conservative Government: Get back to the table and get back on board to support public health care for all in Canada.

Canadians want plan for future of health care: poll

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By Crawford Kilian
Published July 24, 2013     http://thetyee.ca

A poll released today indicates Canadians want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call a meeting of first ministers to discuss the future of health care — and many are ready to change their vote if their present party doesn’t come up with a plan for that future.

The Nanos Research poll was carried out for the Canadian Health Coalition, an advocacy group. In a news release, the Health Coalition wrote:

Eight in ten Canadians either support (51.1%) or somewhat support (29.4%) Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling a First Ministers’ Meeting to secure a plan for the future of health care in Canada. Four in ten Canadians are either likely (19.1%) or very likely (22.2%) to vote for another federal party if the one they currently support does not present a plan for the future of health care.

Asked for their opinion on the effect of expanding private for-profit healthcare in Canada, 54% of Canadians think health care would be weakened while only 28% think it would be strengthened.

The survey results are being released as the Premiers gather in Niagara-on-the-Lake this week for a Council of the Federation Meeting. It is the last meeting they will have before the expiration of the National Health Accord in 2014.

… The federal government has signalled that it will not renew the National Health Accord. In December 2011, it announced plans to cut $36 billion from federal money transfers to provinces for health care after the Accord expires. It recently cancelled funding for the Health Council of Canada, a council created out of the Accord negotiations in 2004 to track progress and quality in health care.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.