I was of the impression that this pay-per-use discussion was a done deal, but it appears to be otherwise; you see, the Quebec Minister of Finance, Raymond Bachand has made a decision not to go ahead with the implementation -- negative feedback from the public at large was just too overwhelming.
However, he has also elected not to ignore the elephant in the room -- folks in Quebec will still be hit with a charge to their income-tax accounts of $100 beginning next year and escalating annually; after all, similarly to what we're experiencing here in Ontario, the health care budget issue will still have to be dealt with and giving in to public opinion doesn't simply make it disappear.
Speaking of health care budgets, it's interesting to note the pre-election rhetoric both from a Federal and Provincial level; for example, the leader of the Federal Liberal party (Michael Ignatieff) has promised an up-coming debate on health care in his recent Nova Scotia caucus address; he's also hinting at the types of changes his party would make if elected -- for example, prevention ("more health, less health care") would be a top priority; also, as indicated in an earlier post, user-pay would not be an option.
Provincially, Tim Hudak has promised to disband the LHIN system in Ontario if his party gets elected next year, using the money allocated to its administration for more front-line care.
Although we're not privy to the details, it's obvious to me that we're on the cusp of a revolutionary change in the way health care is administered throughout Canada -- I think we can all agree that the current way of doing business is unsustainable; elections in 2011 will probably be watershed events.
So, how do we mitigate the soon-coming upheavals? My suggestion is, as always, the use of technology; EMRs, EHRs and PHRs are tools that will both help us to take control of our health and ease the demand on our health care systems.
I think the need for change is superbly articulated by a comment I came across recently -- it states: "There's never enough money to pay for disease".
Ernest A. James
President/CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.
