I have read the leaked Government of Alberta Power Point presentation "Alberta's Health Legislation: Moving Forward" It is a document that begs a lot of questions and raises some legitimate suspicions about the political intent of the Stelmach government on just how secure is the future of publicly funded health care in Alberta.
Bill 17, the new Alberta Health Act is now passed with Closure invoked by the Stelmach government. I expect to hear very little about it now. The government wants to shift our attention to the "Becoming the Best: Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan" and not have us dwell on any boogie-man fears of a secret strategy of privateers out to make our health care system the private property right of some insurance companies.
I have not yet read the Five Year Action Plan. It was just released yesterday. But I will read it with great interest. At first is sounds like a revision of the Olympics motto with words like "more, faster, quicker, reduced, best" as the hooks. There is only one small mention of a wellness aspect and that is a 32% increase in child immunization rates...what ever that means. We need much more attention to prevention and wellness in our health action planning. Don't you think?
I know Minister Zwozdesky had some resistance getting this Action Plan through Cabinet. But all the publicity and pressure over Raj Sherman and the leak of July strategy document I am sure that forced the hands of the foot-draggers in Cabinet. After all what is the point of a five year stable funding commitment if you don't have a five year plan to be able to prove you are using the money wisely?
I will comment more on both document in future blogs. Let me say for now, on the leaked "Alberta Health Legislation: Moving Forward" it is difficult to understand the document because it is terse and in bullets points. There is not much narrative to help one really understand the integrity and intent of the policy approach being proposed. Some stuff is very good and other stuff is veiled political framing of a privatization agenda. Minister Zwozdesky says this is "not his document" and he rejected it because some elements were contrary to the Canada Health Act. Go figure!
From that statement by Minister Zwozdesky, it is safe to conclude this government document is must then "belong" to former Health Minister Ron Liepert. Is sure sounds like his free-market competitive Fraser Institute approach to health care. Given the clear comments from Minister Zwozdesky that he rejected the leaked "Moving Forward" document, we can hopefully conclude that the public health care system in Alberta is safe from ideologically driven privatization agenda - at lest for now.. That sense of safety for the public health system in Alberta only goes up to the next Cabinet shuffle, when ever that might be. If Minister Liepert performs as badly in Energy as he did in Education and Health, a shuffle could be sooner than later. Who replaces Gene Zwozdesky in the Health and Wellness portfolio will tell us a great deal about the integrity and true intent of the Stelmach government on the privatization of the public health care system in Alberta.
As for the Five Year Action Plan, at first blush is it all about targets, measures and percentage but almost entirely aimed at the acute care end of the spectrum. The care and compassion, respect for professionalism in the system is not readily apparent. Fair enough but we also need a culture shift to include encouraging personal action on disease prevention, wellness and well-being too. Albertans must take personal responsibility for their health care and that is about each of us taking steps in the areas of prevention, including lifestyle changes as necessary. Health care is not just all about the system. Much of it is about us, our values and attitudes.
I get put off when I see policy documents aspiring to be the "best." Like in this document title: "Becoming the Best:Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan." Stating Alberta's goal to be the "best-performing publicly funded health system in Canada is to merely measure ourselves relative to others. That is a mugs game and is more sloganeering than a soundly reasoned policy objective. With all the wealth in Alberta and our highest per capita spending on health care we should already be the best in Canada...but on what measures? Life expectancy and wait times are important but not very sophisticated outcome aspirations.
We know economic wealth translates into good health outcomes. Given the enormous wealth and potential in Alberta we should have the aspiration to be the best health care system for the world, as well as the best in the world. That better aspiration for Alberta to be the best health care system for the world can happen in terms of investment in other areas like prevention, teaching, research and innovation. Now that is something to strive for in addition to value for tax money and, quality care and better access times...all of which are essential but not sufficient for live up to our potential.
To close let me invite you to watch this interesting video. It is just over 4 minutes and shows how the wealth of a country is correlated to life expectancy. Watch it and ask yourself why the Alberta government sets its health care sights so low and narrow given our potential. (H/T to Kim Bater for the link)
Showing posts with label Liepert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liepert. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Monday, May 11, 2009
GOA Goes After Big Tobacco to Recover Health Care Costs.
The Alberta government through the Minister of Health and Wellness just introduced Bill 48 today, Crown’s Right of Recovery Act. It is a great move and aimed at enabling the province to recover health costs incurred in a number of situations. They include car accidents but the law will use a wrongdoer’s insurance to recover health costs. That could get complicated in how to calculate the health costs associated.
The essence of the Bill is in section 2(1) that says in effect if someone receives health services for personal injuries due to wrongful acts or omission of a wrongdoer, the province then has the right to recover the health care costs, both current and future costs, from the wrongdoer. If someone, who is a victim receiving care due and contributory negligent, the wrongdoer is off the hook for that portion of the health care costs the victim is responsible for.
Bill 48 deals with convicted criminals who are hurt in committing a crime. They will be paying their health care costs. And it also goes after the tobacco industry to recover the health costs associated with the damage done by their products. The tobacco sections are very complex and I will need more time to study and digest what they mean and if second hand smoke is involved too. Overall - Wow! As a citizen and taxpayer, on first blush, I'm loving this Bill.
The province makes a direct claim for recovery of health care costs against tobacco companies so the patient is not involved in any messy litigation. The province looks like it is actually pursuing the tobacco companies on an aggregated basis to recover all health costs caused by and associated with tobacco produces. With tobacco, it looks like it is not dealt with on case by case approach but in the aggregate. That is smart.
Lots of detail to consider here but this is a great step in the right direction. It was impossible to get the Klein government to accept a ban on smoking in public and work places. There were numerous tries and all were rebuffed by Ralph Klein. That smoking ban was finally accomplished by Dave Hancock when he was Minister of Health and Wellness in the first Stelmach government.
His good work is being carried on by the current Minister, Ron Liepert. Full disclosure, I worked with a consortium of health professionals and advocacy groups to get the smoking ban in Alberta last year. There are lots on blog post in the archives if you want to know more about that initiative.
Bill 44 sucks but Bill 48 makes great sense.
The essence of the Bill is in section 2(1) that says in effect if someone receives health services for personal injuries due to wrongful acts or omission of a wrongdoer, the province then has the right to recover the health care costs, both current and future costs, from the wrongdoer. If someone, who is a victim receiving care due and contributory negligent, the wrongdoer is off the hook for that portion of the health care costs the victim is responsible for.
Bill 48 deals with convicted criminals who are hurt in committing a crime. They will be paying their health care costs. And it also goes after the tobacco industry to recover the health costs associated with the damage done by their products. The tobacco sections are very complex and I will need more time to study and digest what they mean and if second hand smoke is involved too. Overall - Wow! As a citizen and taxpayer, on first blush, I'm loving this Bill.
The province makes a direct claim for recovery of health care costs against tobacco companies so the patient is not involved in any messy litigation. The province looks like it is actually pursuing the tobacco companies on an aggregated basis to recover all health costs caused by and associated with tobacco produces. With tobacco, it looks like it is not dealt with on case by case approach but in the aggregate. That is smart.
Lots of detail to consider here but this is a great step in the right direction. It was impossible to get the Klein government to accept a ban on smoking in public and work places. There were numerous tries and all were rebuffed by Ralph Klein. That smoking ban was finally accomplished by Dave Hancock when he was Minister of Health and Wellness in the first Stelmach government.
His good work is being carried on by the current Minister, Ron Liepert. Full disclosure, I worked with a consortium of health professionals and advocacy groups to get the smoking ban in Alberta last year. There are lots on blog post in the archives if you want to know more about that initiative.
Bill 44 sucks but Bill 48 makes great sense.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Why Can't the Calgary Health Authority Live Within a Budget When Edmonton's Can?
This attitude from the Calgary Health Authority drives me crazy. The presumption that Edmonton and Calgary are the same and somehow there is a health funding discrepancy between the two authorities is idiotic and pure politics. It always worked in Calgary’s favour under Klein. That erroneous and simplistic “logic” will not prevail under Minister Liepert.
The fact is Calgary serves a population that is more urban, educated, wealthier, younger, white collar, less distributed and perhaps more culturally homogenous than Edmonton. I accept that latter point may be disputable given the recent immigration wave that came to Calgary. These are indicator of better health conditions and outcomes. For sure they indicate a better and healthier population than exists in the Edmonton region.
The Capital Region Health Authority in Edmonton serves an older, poorer, less educated, more industrial blue collar and culturally diverse population. That industrial based economy is prone to accidents that tend to be more serious than white collar worker paper cuts. Edmonton has a more dispersed population too, serving the north where we find all the Alberta development and related danger form accidents and social breakdown. All this indicates Edmonton will be a more expensive and difficult health care system.
The Calgary Health Authority can’t ever seem to manage its budget. It has perpetual deficits and the Calgary solution is to automatically run to the province for more money – and Klein always obliged. I can remember one year when Calgary ran a $70m deficit and the Capital Region Health Authority ran a $17m surplus. There were no unusual Calgary specific higher health demand circumstances that year. Go figure!
Come on Calgary. This perpetual self-absorbed Toronto wanna-be attitude and the over the top hubris about being better than Edmonton is childish. Surely the talented private sector brains down there can do better. If they insist they are better than the Capital City of Bureaucrats who makes up Edmonton why can’t they simply do it?
Calgary, as we are constantly told by Calgarians and their media, is where all the management and financial talent exist in the province. Just look how “smarter” they ended up being about the impact of the royalty review…surely they weren’t bluffing about something so important to the entire province. Surely they can get that kind of talent to serve on the Calgary Health Authority. Maybe then the Calgary Health Authority can actually do a better job of providing quality health care for Calgarians and provide top value for taxpayer dollars too. Give the superior attitude that is always spouted down there, this ought to be a slam dunk – wouldn’t you think?
The fact is Calgary serves a population that is more urban, educated, wealthier, younger, white collar, less distributed and perhaps more culturally homogenous than Edmonton. I accept that latter point may be disputable given the recent immigration wave that came to Calgary. These are indicator of better health conditions and outcomes. For sure they indicate a better and healthier population than exists in the Edmonton region.
The Capital Region Health Authority in Edmonton serves an older, poorer, less educated, more industrial blue collar and culturally diverse population. That industrial based economy is prone to accidents that tend to be more serious than white collar worker paper cuts. Edmonton has a more dispersed population too, serving the north where we find all the Alberta development and related danger form accidents and social breakdown. All this indicates Edmonton will be a more expensive and difficult health care system.
The Calgary Health Authority can’t ever seem to manage its budget. It has perpetual deficits and the Calgary solution is to automatically run to the province for more money – and Klein always obliged. I can remember one year when Calgary ran a $70m deficit and the Capital Region Health Authority ran a $17m surplus. There were no unusual Calgary specific higher health demand circumstances that year. Go figure!
Come on Calgary. This perpetual self-absorbed Toronto wanna-be attitude and the over the top hubris about being better than Edmonton is childish. Surely the talented private sector brains down there can do better. If they insist they are better than the Capital City of Bureaucrats who makes up Edmonton why can’t they simply do it?
Calgary, as we are constantly told by Calgarians and their media, is where all the management and financial talent exist in the province. Just look how “smarter” they ended up being about the impact of the royalty review…surely they weren’t bluffing about something so important to the entire province. Surely they can get that kind of talent to serve on the Calgary Health Authority. Maybe then the Calgary Health Authority can actually do a better job of providing quality health care for Calgarians and provide top value for taxpayer dollars too. Give the superior attitude that is always spouted down there, this ought to be a slam dunk – wouldn’t you think?
Minister Liepert has made it pretty clear that the governance of the health care system is on the table as part of his efforts to change "mind-sets." Looking at the mind set attitude and actions of the Calgary Health Authority I's say it is a damn good thing he is looking at some serious governance changes.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Nice To See Alberta Ministers Musing About New Ideas in Public
Anyone who has read this Blog for any length of time knows that I am a card carrying member of the Alberta PC Party and friend and fan of Dave Hancock, Alberta’s new Minister of Learning.
So with that bias disclosed let me say Hancock has been making some interesting moves in that of portfolio of late. Suggesting that school planning has been “insane” and that perhaps school boards are worthy of more respect and responsibility than they have been in the past decade and maybe ought to have some more political power.
I have to say I am surprised and encouraged by this new openness and policy commentary actually making news coming from Ministers like Hancock, Liepert on health reform and Morton on land use issues. This is kind of political using before matters get to Cabinet good for democracy and key to achieving a re-engaged and informed citizenry.
There seemed to be a message controlling chill over government MLAs and Cabinet Ministers expressing opinions before Stelmach became Premier. For sure, once a Cabinet decision has been take that position is, and should be, gospel for all Ministers. If they don’t like it they can resign from Cabinet. It has happened.
As a citizen I am as interested in what range of options is being considered and how policy issues are being explored before they go behind the closed Cabinet doors for decisions. I want to see want is left on the cutting room floor as these who govern us make the hard choices on our behalf. This new openness is so much more respectful of Albertans.
It is important that our policy makers show that they are informed, engaged and actively exploring options that, in the end, serve the common good. If the politicinas want to earn our respect and gain our trust they need to show citizens that they are not just in a sheep-like acceptance of a top down pre-ordained and dictated “political solution.”
I credit Premier Stelmach for this change in attitude and governing philosophy. The old-style pre-ordained political positioning that is pushed through a public consultation process purely for show is hopefully a thing of the past now too.
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