Plan to increase health care centralisation is bad for Canada

Critics hope that Canada will not move in the direction proposed by Roy Romanow's $15 million Commission of the Future of Health Care in Canada. The plan calls for the following:

Continued government monopoly over almost all aspects of health care restricting patient choice and innovation.

A national health care plan overseen by the federal government, which would force recalcitrant provinces to toe the party line in return for federal funds, as well as look after the interests of supplier groups.

Extending control over health care services not already under state jurisdiction - such as home care and prescription drugs.

The Romanow report does not address the lack of choice and accountability in the Canadian health care system, say critics. These deficiencies result from the current structure of central management and control and will not be solved by further centralisation of decision-making. The solution to each of the problems perceived by Romanow is less government control, less centralised planning and more choice and competition.

Source: Nadeem Esmail and John R. Graham, Extending Government Monopoly Health Care: The Romanow Report, Fraser Forum, January 2003, Fraser Institute.

For text http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/chapterfiles/Extending%20Government%20Monopoly%20Health%20Care,%20The%20Romanow%20Report-Esmail.pdf#
For more on Health Care Reform http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/

FMF Policy Bulletin\4 February 2003

Publish date: 13 February 2003
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The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Foundation. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author.

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