Just released: a deep dive into the Canada Health Act cdhowe.org/publication/...

Looking forward to presenting the 2025 Hall Lecture in Ottawa this coming Wednesday!

StatsCan has just released its survey data of how much insured patients were billed directly for select insured (medically necessary) services at medical and diagnostic laboratories in Canada. Total for services paid for out of pocket (that should have been covered publicly): $750 million

Delighted to be joining the C.D. Howe Institute as Fellow-in-Residence and Health Policy Scholar

Delighted to have been awarded a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant for health governance - looking forward to engaging in the research with my colleague Sara Allin at the UofT

Happy to announce that our CIHR-funded article for Social Science & Medicine is now available online at www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Wasn’t it George Grant who warned that we were becoming the 51st state in [checks flyleaf] 1965?

Looking forward to discussing the Canada Health Act and Health Canada's new interpretation letter at the Health Innovation and Public Policy Conference in Saskatoon next week!

N.S. losing out on health transfers as private medical imaging grows | CBC News Over the past two years, Ottawa has clawed back more than $3 million from Nova Scotia because some patients are paying out of pocket for MRI and ultrasound. The clawbacks are likely to grow as private...

Health Minister Michelle Thompson declined CBC's interview request. #nspoli via @taryngrant.bsky.social

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Although if there is a federal election resulting in a new government, it's anyone's guess what will happen...

And so stay tuned for future federal activity both in this area and in regard to virtual care

Notably, the Minister has also indicated concern about those seeking elective care outside their home province (as non-residents are not covered, they services they receive are not considered to be insured)

This will come into effect 1 April 2026

Any contravention of this new interpretation will be considered a violation of sections 18/19 of the CHA (extra billing and user charges) and will require HC to impose mandatory fines on offending provinces

Now, under this new interpretation, any insurable service provided by GPs (ie, any service that has a billing number) will also have to be covered publicly regardless of who provides it

But as health care professionals such as nurse practitioners or pharmacists receive expanded scopes of practice, they can provide the same kinds of services outside of the CHA (ie, directly to patients for profit)

Currently, provincial legislation often defines "medically-necessary care" as that provided by physicians or in hospitals

The focus is "to ensure that patients do not face charges for medically-necessary care when a service would otherwise be covered if provided by a physician"

The federal Minister of Health, Mark Holland, has finally released a document which will be used in interpreting how the Canada Health Act is to be understood and applied

Things seem to be picking up here on Bluesky

The Growing Private-Sector Involvement in Canadian Public Health Care Systems Ontario announced plans this week to further expand services offered through privately owned clinics under its health plan.

www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/w...

New report on private health care in Canada available at cdhowe.org

✂️ Waiting for the hurricane 14 seconds · Clipped by kafierlbeck · Original video "Chris de Burgh - Waiting For The Hurricane (Official)" by Chris de Burgh

Mood: Chris de Burgh - Waiting For The Hurricane (Official) youtube.com/clip/UgkxbhT... via @YouTube

The Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University presents the 2023 Stanfield Lecture, with Megan Leslie, President & CEO of World Wildlife Fund, Naheed Nenshi, former Mayor of Calgary, and Mark Jaccard, Simon Fraser University. October 24th, in-person and live-streamed!

Public Health Care Beyond the Canada Health Act Event

If you're in Ottawa on September 27th...
www.ottawahealthlaw.ca/events/fierl...

Was Sweden right all along? via The Hub thehub.ca/2023-08-31/a...

The Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University is advertising for an Assistant Professor in Political Science and Law, Justice and Society Program. Please visit dal.peopleadmin.ca/postings/14567 for a detailed job description - apply for the position by November 1st.