Canada's real health costs hidden, unsustainable: IMF

[Michael Hardner]

CTV.ca

This part caught my eye:

Accordingly, provinces need to be more upfront with Canadians about the true nature of the costs and the best practices for ensuring service can be maintained in the future.

There is no reporting of costs, or adequate performance reporting on services. I have been saying this for years, on my blog and on these boards. I have emailed people inside the system, talked to experts and nothing. The system is a byzantine mess.

And if we refuse to open the system up (as I propose, via OpenGov initiatives) then we will soon have privatization as the only option we can take.

[dre]

CTV.ca

This part caught my eye:

There is no reporting of costs, or adequate performance reporting on services. I have been saying this for years, on my blog and on these boards. I have emailed people inside the system, talked to experts and nothing. The system is a byzantine mess.

And if we refuse to open the system up (as I propose, via OpenGov initiatives) then we will soon have privatization as the only option we can take.

Im all for getting some data out there. Its just hard to do when the government thinks we are too stupid to be allowed to see the machinations of government. Maybe we need an insider to upload the information to wikileaks.

[Michael Hardner]

Im all for getting some data out there. Its just hard to do when the government thinks we are too stupid to be allowed to see the machinations of government. Maybe we need an insider to upload the information to wikileaks.

CIHI.com - The Canadian Institute for Health Information - seems to be the vessel to do it, but people have to know it's there.

[Shwa]

There is no reporting of costs, or adequate performance reporting on services. I have been saying this for years, on my blog and on these boards. I have emailed people inside the system, talked to experts and nothing. The system is a byzantine mess.

And if we refuse to open the system up (as I propose, via OpenGov initiatives) then we will soon have privatization as the only option we can take.

Of course you know I agree that we need to open the system up for inspection and data mining, etc. However, I don't understand how you arrive and privatization as the "only option" if we don't open the system up soon. How do you make that sort of leap?

[dre]

Of course you know I agree that we need to open the system up for inspection and data mining, etc. However, I don't understand how you arrive and privatization as the "only option" if we don't open the system up soon. How do you make that sort of leap?

I can see.

If the reporting piece isnt strong, then problems wont get uncovered and fixed... the system will continue to get worse, and the privatizers will claim its evidence that privatization is needed. Is that horseshit? Yup. But Mikes right thats exactly whats gonna happen. Every time theres problems with the public system its a feather in the cap of the privatizers. Which is why its even MORE important to get some transparency in place, because governments bent on privatization will actually intentionally make the public system fail to bring that about.

Its true that the public VS private thing is really a huge red herring and I posted a bit about that already. But the reality still is, that problems in the system will benefit those pushing privatization.

[August1991]

There is no reporting of costs, or adequate performance reporting on services.

"No reporting of costs"? Government health costs are reported in provincial and federal budgets, as well as their annual reports or audits. I don't know what you mean by "adequate performance reporting on services". How do you define "adequate"?

It seems to me that the IMF is simply stating that our state health insurance scheme does not have sufficient reserve funding for future liabilities. That is, our health system is "pay-as-you-go". Well, that's hardly news since governments generally don't have reserves for future liabilities. (I even question why the CPP/QPP funds exist.)

[To be honest, I have never understood this public debate about government deficits and debt. Governments have numerous unfunded future liabilities rarely included in their accounts, but then governments have limitless future receivables!]

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But Michael, the IMF, CTV and you forget the true hidden cost of our health system: all the time ordinary people waste in queues, in emergency wards, on the phone trying to make appointments, in waiting rooms, asking friends about specialists, or being told to come back next Monday. None of these costs are calculated or considered in any health budget. These are private costs that our public system imposes on individuals.

It is terrifying to think that a bureacrat can make a decision, for example, to close a health office early on a Friday afternoon and impose horrendous costs on many other individuals who are told to come back on Monday. (It happens.)

It is sad to think that these "hidden queuing costs" are greater for busy, hard-working people. They are lighter for retired people or people on welfare. (Think about what that means.)

Edited December 23, 2010 by August1991