Medicare in distress, Romanow suggests
Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, who led a federal inquiry into medicare more than a decade ago, says the public health- care system is deteriorating and close to a “tipping point.”
In an interview, Romanow called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to adopt a more activist federal approach to health care, including working to create a national pharmacare scheme. Romanow also urged the government to start enforcing the rules of the Canada Health Act, which sets broad principles that are supposed to apply to provincial health systems.
During the past eight to 10 years, the public health- care system has dropped from the limelight as a prime political issue, he said. As a result, there is a “growing voice” from advocates of privatization for the “abandonment” of medicare — even though he believes Canadians still cherish it as a reflection of their basic values.
“Unless it can be dealt with by way of federal- provincial co- operation, I think we’re very close to a tipping point,” Romanow said.
Romanow said that in additional to slashing health- care funding, Harper has adopted a hands- off approach to medicare.
“This ( medicare) plan will continue to dissipate in its effectiveness, its costs will increase and the voice for privatization, let alone the lawsuits for privatization, will only increase,” Romanow said.
He said federal and provincial governments must start working again to rescue medicare from the steady decline it faces.
“There hasn’t been much debate about health care at all. We talk about other very important issues, but it’s about time we re- ignite this debate in a civilized and emotional way. This is going to take visionary leadership.”
Romanow said that since he delivered his royal commission report in November 2002, necessary reforms such as pharmacare and home care have gone nowhere.
“We are in poorer condition as a nation for the delivery of health care than we were 13 years ago,” he said.
Romanow was appointed by then- prime minister Jean Chrétien in 2001 to study medicare. The next year, he delivered a report concluding the system was financially sustainable if the federal government gave billions more to the provinces for health care on the condition they implement reforms in areas such as home care, primary care and pharmacare.
In 2004, Paul Martin’s Liberal government struck a 10- year accord to give provinces billions in extra cash, but Romanow said it came without the necessary strings attached for reform of the system.
Since Harper came to power in 2006, the governing Conservatives have said they are committed to a “universal public health- care system and the Canada Health Act.”