On day one of the official Saskatchewan election campaign, Lorne Calvert promised a $150M universal drug plan, should his party win the upcoming election. One day prior, an independent research organization at the Fraser Institute released a study showing that surgical wait times in Canada are at an all time high. According to a CBC news article reviewing the study, Saskatchewan has the highest surgical waiting times in the nation, with a total wait time average of 27.2 weeks. On the positive side, Saskatchewan was one of the four provinces where wait times have actually come down in the past few years.
It seems as though a universal drug plan is really not one of the most pressing needs of Saskatchewan citizens at the moment. It certainly doesn’t sound like a bad idea, especially in an age where prescription drugs are becoming more common, more important to general health care, and definitely more expensive. If we are going to have a health care system where everyone has equal access to see a doctor, diagnostic services, surgery etc., it makes sense that everyone should also have equal access to medication, with no discrimination based on financial circumstance. My concern is that it didn’t seem like a universal drug plan was an issue before the election was called. There were however other issues related to health care including surgical wait times and doctor/nurse shortages that have been important and pressing issues for some time now. One has to notice that with a major announcement coming almost every day from the major political parties, the hundreds of millions of dollars are really starting to add up.
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7 comments:
I totally agree. Why not hire some doctors and nurses? I'm not sure the drug plan definitely seems like a cop out
I am all for cheap medication for everyone, and you do make a point that if there is universal healthcare, then why is there not universal drug plan? I think that the drug plan is an issue that our society should be looking at, but at this time I think it needs to take the back burner to other, more pressing issues. I think that you are right that this issue does not seem to be the one that the governmental parties should be addressing and that they need to look further into other ways of gaining shorter wait times and a larger number of healthcare workers.
150 million... it's a start... what I find more interesting are the almost revolutionary (in regards to current Saskatchewan political culture) plans the NDP all-of-a-sudden have for students [$1000 off per semester undergraduate]... or even more surprisingly, their plan for democratic reform! Putting citizen's in charge of the reforms... the three components (as highlighted by John Murney)
1) Fixed election dates.
2) Citizen referenda... on issues like the nuclear industry , or electing directors to the boards of Crowns like SaskTel and SaskPower are some ideas
3) Senate elections.
wow... what have they been doing these past 16 years? saving it all up for when they're gonna lose an election?
I agree with your observations. Most of all the one about costs. While a universal drug plan would complement the universal healthcare plan nicely, 150 million a year? (And that's just right now. With a steadily aging population, who knows how much this intitial yearly cost could escalate to). Then there's the tuition reduction us college students have been hoping for.I like the univeral drug plan idea, don't get me wrong, but I think cost may be an issue.
The first objection to public programs always seems to be that it is too expensive. I do not see any substance in this view. Take auto insurance for example. Saskatchewan is the only province with a public auto insurance company (SGI), and our rates are the lowest in the country- Alberta is roughly double our rates. To claim, then, that a universal plan would merely give private companies more money is a strange criticism because we would have more collective bargaining power if it was a shared-cost program. Indeed, if all the provinces undertook this plan, the federal government could use its purchasing power to get even better deals on drug purchases.
In addition, I think that the Sask party's plan to insure youth under 14 and senior citizens who have incomes less than $64 000 is without exception the worst idea among the parties. Firstly, why should only these people be covered? Other citizens are vulnerable as well. In addtion, the senior plan would be means tested. That is a very humiliating way to be insured, and those who are slightly above the means cutoff usually experience financial difficulties.
I understand that there are other health care issues. However, a drug plan does not mean that these issues cannot be addressed. The Saskatchewan government is at a surplus in spending power and we should take full advantage of this revenue. In the scheme of a 7.7 billion dollar budget, 150 million dollars would not hinder the opportunity to spend in other areas as well.
I agree with Candid Canuck ... Because the NDP party is looking to implement the universal drug plan does not mean that they will not be looking at solving other issues with Saskatchewan health care. Personally I know nothing about planning a budget for the province and where the money can and will be spent. Any ideas on giving everyone in the province equal access to services is something worth looking into.
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