The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
April 28, 2004
Ottawa opens up medicare
By Mark Kennedy
The federal government will not stand in the way of provinces that want to “experiment” with medicare by hiring for-profit private companies to deliver medical services within the publicly funded system, says Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
The declaration came Tuesday after an appearance before a House of Commons committee, where Pettigrew was grilled by MPs over his government’s commitment to enforcing the Canada Health Act and to allowing more privatization.
Pettigrew was remarkably blunt in his responses to MPs, providing what was likely the most direct statement in recent years by a federal health minister about private-sector delivery of medicare.
“Public administration is the principle, not public ownership. There’s a difference between public ownership and public administration.”
At the committee, New Democrat MP Bev Desjarlais pushed Pettigrew for a clear answer on whether the Liberal government will stop the growing trend of provinces using private firms to deliver medicare to patients.
But Pettigrew repeatedly stressed that the Canada Health Act does not forbid this.
It was also a hot political topic that Roy Romanow addressed in his royal commission report on health care two years ago. He warned about the “potential risks to the integrity and viability of our health-care system that might result from an expanded role for private providers.”
In a heated exchange Tuesday, Desjarlais told Pettigrew he is supporting the use of taxpayers’ dollars to help for-profit health companies — even though many studies have shown they are more costly, less efficient and even more dangerous to patient care than the regular public system.
“There needs to be a real outright honesty with Canadians,” she said. “The government should just come out and say, ‘We are going to promote for-profit health-care service delivery.’ “
Clearly angry by the charge, Pettigrew shot back: “You choose your words, and I’ll choose mine Mrs. Desjarlais. I have been making my position very clear and I am as honest with Canadians as you are. I know you like to be virtuous. I like to be very frank and honest as well.”
http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/story.asp?id=9D3D1B4E-2D2D-430E-AB6D-2C457D42A7B1
Comment: Two major themes permeate our health care reform efforts in the United States. Of greater importance, we clearly see the need to establish a method of financing health care that will enable access to affordable, comprehensive care for everyone. We believe that the single payer model of universal social insurance would be the most effective. The other issue that we address is the perverse incentives created by including for-profit corporations and their passive investors in the health care delivery system. As Mrs. Desjarlais indicated, “many studies have shown they are more costly, less efficient and even more dangerous to patient care than the regular public system.”
Our first task will be to establish an equitable, publicly funded and publicly administered, universal health insurance program. Then we can tackle the much more difficult problem of misuse of our resources that is designed to benefit investors.
Canada has already accomplished both of our goals, although there is still more for them to do. But it would be tragic if Canadian politics were effective in rejecting the “virtuous” in favor regressing to “frank” for-profit health-care service delivery.