Tag Archive for “health insurance”

Despite strong feelings that the Canadian healthcare system is among the best in the world, one-third of the respondents to a recent Health Canada survey said the system is sick and in need of a cure.

The Ottawa Citizen reported on the survey, which found 34 percent of Canadians worry the healthcare system will deteriorate over the next five years. Among those who saw a negative prognosis for the country's health, most said the system is overburdened, unreliable and wasteful.

Almost paradoxically, the same survey found 43 percent of Canadians feel the current system is either good or excellent. Roughly three out of four people said they were confident they or their family members would receive quality care in the event of a medical condition. Continue reading »

It may not be the strangest holiday in Canada (National Peanut Butter Lover's Day, anyone?), but healthcare professionals in Ottawa are getting ready to celebrate the first ever Medical Imaging Team Day on May 17.

The day is meant to celebrate the doctors, nurses, sonographers and other medical professionals who make up the medical imaging team. Imaging professionals who will be in Ottawa for the celebration also hope the event will educate the public on medical imaging.

"Many Canadians have, or know someone who has, undergone a medical imaging procedure," according to a Medical Imaging Team Day press release. "It is one of the fastest-growing medical specialties today and yet most people know very little about medical imaging, including its benefits and risks. Medical imaging examinations include X-ray, MRI, CT scan, ultrasound and nuclear medicine." Continue reading »

Canadians who suffer from chronic or acute pain wait too long before receiving care, and the country is in need of a more unified pain-management strategy, according to representatives of various pain groups. The groups gathered in Ottawa recently for the first ever Canadian Pain Summit.

The Canadian Pain Society and the Canadian Pain Coalition, together with members of the pain community and other stakeholders, met April 24 to discuss the state of pain management in Canada. According to the groups, pain management is among the most common reasons for Canadians to visit a healthcare professional. Despite the prevalence of pain nationwide, management has been found lacking. A lack of pain-management clinics in large urban areas has led to long waits for care. It is not uncommon for rural Canadians to wait up to five years for treatment.

"Unfortunately, most healthcare professionals have not received adequate training on appropriate pain management and are therefore at a loss when trying to help their patients," said Dr. Mary Lynch, co-chair of the Canadian Pain Summit. "Veterinary students receive five times as much undergraduate teaching on pain than do medical students. The implementation of a National Pain Strategy would target this knowledge gap by insisting on minimum training requirements for all Canadian health professionals. This, along with better access to appropriate, coordinated pain management services, could reduce the costs in other parts of our healthcare system." Continue reading »

The most recent federal budget from Ottawa reveals a lack of leadership when it comes to much needed healthcare reforms, according to the Canadian Healthcare Association.

While Budget 2012 contains a number of provisions that will be helpful to Canadians over the coming years, ministers took a scattered approach to healthcare reform that falls short of expectations. Student loan forgiveness schemes for doctors and nurses are a good first step, but should be extended to other medical professions, suggests Pamela Fralick, president and CEO of the CHA. Similarly, funding levels for education and water infrastructure improvements in aboriginal communities – two social determinants that strongly influence health outcomes – at least acknowledge the importance of these programs, but can only be considered a starting point for real reforms.

"Budget 2012 addresses a number of important health concerns," Fralick said. "But, Canada will not have the world class health system it deserves with a piecemeal approach. Federal leadership is a necessary component of comprehensive health system improvement." Continue reading »

Despite Canada's universal healthcare system, many still require supplemental health insurance to ensure access to specialists, or to protect against the high cost of prescription drugs.

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association has announced a plan to help Canadians retain their supplemental prescription drug coverage by sharing the risk of high-cost claims. Many drug plan beneficiaries, especially those who receive their benefits through a small or mid-size employer, run the risk of losing coverage in the event of a high-cost claim, according to CLHIA.

CLHIA said it would pool the resources of its 23 participating members to set premiums for employer drug plans without including high-cost drug claims – a move that would protect Canadians from potentially losing their insurance. 

"The ability for insurance companies to pool the costs of very expensive drugs represents a win-win scenario for all participants in fully insured plans," said Frank Swedlove, president of the CLHIA. "Employers get a more financially sustainable drug plan, employees benefit as they will continue to receive coverage from their employer plans even in the face of a high cost drug claim, and insurers are able to spread the cost of high cost claims amongst the participating companies." Continue reading »

Canada's healthcare system is losing ground on a number of key quality indicators despite an influx of nearly $100 billion over the last several years, according to a new report from the Fraser Group.

Since 1997, Ottawa has transferred an additional $97.6 billion to provinces to help pay for healthcare costs on top of the amount needed to maintain the system and adjust for population increases and inflation, according to the report. The federal government plans to continue making these cash transfers at a rate increase of 6 percent per year until 2017, at which point the transfers will be tied to economic growth.

For its report, the Fraser Group looked at 12 different metrics for healthcare quality and discovered that, even with large amounts of money coming from Ottawa, the system slipped in eight of the categories.

The average Canadian will now wait 19 weeks for treatment, the report shows. This is up from 11.9 weeks in 1997. Wait times to see a specialist after a referral from a general practitioner were also up over the last decade-and-a-half. The average waiting period increased from 5.1 weeks to 9.5 weeks. Access to nurses and ultrasounds also declined. Continue reading »

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, the subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, recently announced it plans to issue $500 million principal amount of 4.165 percent fixed/floating subordinated debentures by June 1.

The debentures will carry interest at a 4.165 percent fixed rate for five years and afterward a rate of 2.45 percent over the three month Canadian Dealer Offered Rate. The debentures are scheduled to mature on June 1, 2022.

"Our capital raising activity takes into account our expected refinancing requirements and recognizes that, while our capital position remains strong, there could be pressure on our common share price and bond spreads if our capital ratios decline," said Donald Guloien, president and CEO of Manulife. "We see this action as prudent when faced with uncertain market and economic conditions." Continue reading »

Canada could soon experience a shortage of Oxycontin that would lead to a catastrophe for the nation's reserves as the drug has been removed from the Non-Insured Health Benefits list.

With Health Canada announcing that all "long-acting oxycodones" like OxyContin have been removed from the Non-Insured Health Benefits list, all legal sources of the drug will become unavailable to all Status Indians and recognized Inuit across the nation.

"In the absence of any regular treatment, a public-health catastrophe is imminent," said Benedikt Fischer of British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, in the draft of a statement prepared by the Nish-nawbe Aski, according to the Calgary Herald.. "There are thousands of addicted individuals with rapidly shrinking supplies – likely leading to massive increases in black-market prices, use of other drugs, needle use and sharing, and crime." Continue reading »

According to a report from Desjardins Financial Security, the "Sandwich Generation" in Canada – those taking care of both their elderly parents and their children – are beginning to worry about their future.

The majority of Sandwich Generation members believe their physical, mental and financial health are in good standing. Of those responding to a recent DFS survey, 92 percent claimed they were in excellent, very good or good health, compared to 83.8 percent of average Canadians. In addition, 94.2 percent of Sandwich members claimed their psychological health was good and 70.2 percent felt the same about their financial security, compared to 88.7 and 57.2 percent of all Canadians, respectively. Continue reading »

A recent article in the Globe and Mail conveyed the story of a company, Conair Consumer Products Inc., who realized the asset of including critical illness insurance coverage in their benefits package after two employees, including the general manager, were diagnosed with cancer. The company even opted to up the group policy payout to $75,000 per person.

Critical illness insurance offers a lump sum, tax-free payment, usually following 30 days after diagnosis, to be used to relieve financial household burdens, such as mortgage payments, credit debt, in-home care, vehicle payments, etc. The payout is yours to use freely, and intended to take financial concerns off your mind so that you may focus all of your energy onto recovery.

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