AIMS is pleased to provide a forum for fresh perspectives on the Canadian public health care system. In Healthy Alternatives, AIMS Health Policy Fellow David Zitner and AIMS Board Director George Cooper shed light on several issues facing our health care system, and offer their points of view on what can be done to address them. Both articles were originally published in The Chronicle Herald.
Health care in Canada is not the same for everyone, writes Zitner. Factors such as education and socioeconomic status can affect the treatment Canadians receive for even basic health problems. Rich and poor alike pay the same for health care, but receive different services. He argues we’d all be better off if those who could afford it paid directly for some of their care, which would in turn reduce wait times and improve services for those who cannot afford to pay directly. He suggests that establishing patient cooperatives is a way to focus health spending and improve the quality of care.
Cooper argues that no progress in health care, including technological advancement, will ever happen until we fix the governance of our health care system. After conceiving different health projects the government then steps into the management role, leaving no one for ‘management’ to report to. Cooper argues this is an inefficient and unaccountable way of doing things. He proposes changes to who carries out each task in the health care system, creating a more diverse, accountable, and sustainable system for Canadians.
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