Making our pan-Canadian health organizations ‘Fit for Purpose’

 By P.G. Forest and Danielle Martin Canadian Medicare would not exist without the actions of the federal government. But in recent years, there has been an atrophy of the imagination about Ottawa’s role in health policy, as if federal transfer payments to the provinces and territories were the beginning and

Four Things you Should Know About the Pending Charter Challenge Against Medicare

 A long-running dispute between Dr. Brian Day, the co-owner of Cambie Surgeries Corporation and the British Columbia government may finally be resolved in the BC Supreme Court this year – and the ruling could transform the Canadian health system from coast to coast. The case emerged in response to an

Pharmacare is Good for Business

 Repeatedly over the past 50 years, national commissions and inquiries have recommended that Canadian medicare include universal, public coverage of prescription drugs. So far, no government has acted on this, creating profound inequities and inefficiencies in our health care system. But more than that: the lack of universal pharmacare is

Prescription Drug Costs Hurting Canadians: Why the Public Health System Needs to Evolve

 This week, health ministers from across Canada will gather in Banff to discuss issues of common interest and explore opportunities to work together. Pharmacare--a program that would see all prescription drug costs covered through a publicly funded system instead of out-of-pocket--will almost certainly be on the agenda. Decision makers often