Beware the Boogey Man

Ralph Strikes Back
Private Health Care is Still On the Agenda

Klein, dubbed "The Wrangler" in the Canadian Health Care Manager Journal's seventh-annual national awards, was recently given the honour for his tenacity in tackling health-care issues with the province's yet-to-be-introduced Third Way health-care proposal.'
Wrangler' premier nabs health award

Canadians deserve better health system : Klein

canada.com
Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Ralph Klein says Alberta is trying to find ways of addressing non-emergency health issues outside of the current public system.

The Alberta premier says his province is exploring ways to address a recent Supreme Court decision declaring inordinate wait times unconstitutional and opening the way to private health care.

Klein says Canadians deserve better access to a health system that provides quality services when they need it.

Sitting on billions of surplus dollars, and having cut hospital beds, privatized laundry and support services in hospitals, laid off nurses and doctors, and reduced access to post secondary education in the last decade is the reason Alberta and the rest of Canada has a hospitalization crisis. Privatizing health care is NOT going to increase access, funding and reforming the billing system is. Something the Klein government is ideologically opposed to. Funds are clearly not the problem in Alberta. King Klein and his neo-cons on the other hand are.

Health-care boogeyman label unfair, says Klein

No its not, its accurate.

This all began over six years ago with Bill 11. The Liberal Government of the Day did not confront the imminent privatization that Bill 11 opened the door to.
The failure of the Klein Reich in Alberta, the Fraser Institute, the NCC and its spokesman Stephen Harper, and assorted right wing lobbyists to convince Canadians that privatization of health care was neccasary during those years was due to the effective popular mobilization of mass opposition. The Canadian liberal-left stymied the right wing by equating 'privatization' with 'Americanization'.

As the outspoken leader of the neo-con putsch against the public sector and public services, Klein is now spouting his 'Third Way' as an alternative to both the Canadian and American models of health care delivery. "If the Canadian system is unsustainable, which it is, and the American system is unacceptable, which it is, let's find a third way," said Klein.

That Third Way is still privatization. Having been whupped by the left, the neo-cons in Canada, under Kleins leadership, have adopted a new model of privatization to sell Canadians. It is the Euro model. Former Reform/Alliance leader Presto Manning and former Klein Klone and Ontario Premier Mike Harris announced during the last federal election this model of health care reform on behalf of the right wing think tank the Fraser Institute.

Klein still has to tell us what his Third Way is. Even his much lauded 'tell it like it is' speechifying in Ottawa yesterday didn't say what this term means. And he was of course speaking to the converted as his speech was held at the Ottawa Establishment old boys club, the Canadian Empire Club. Whose president is a federal Conservative Strategist.

To some it up for the past six years the Klein Reich in Alberta has tried by hook or crook to come up with plans to expand the privatization of health care, but have faced a resistance from Albertans, as well as other Canadians. His Third Way is just a new label on the same old bottle of cutting costs by devolving them to Albertans directly through private insurance, cost recovery, user fees, medicare accounts and private public partnerships.

While other provinces have their share of P3's, notably Quebec, and services not covered by medicare, only Alberta has the outspoken leadership of the right wing in Canada promoting privatization.

Yes Virginia there is a boogey man and his name is Ralph Klein.

Health should be key election issue: Klein

I couldn't agree more.....cause here it comes.....more privatization through the back door....Ralph's Third Way.....

Members-only clinic opens

Vancouver primary care facility charges $1,200 to join, plus $2,300 a year

Two Tier Alberta

'Alberta sets the agenda for Canada' Jean Charest 1996

No truer words were ever spoken about the Klein Revolution, and they come back to haunt us again and again as Canadians and as long suffering Albertans.

Little Jean said that when has leader of the Federal Conservatives. As Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and now that Provinces Premier, he tried to implement his own version of the Klein Revolution in that province over the past two years. Unsuccesfully of course, since Quebec is a social democratic society, and Republican Lite policies while appealing to the mythical ' taxpayers', fall flat when it comes to privatization and outsourcing of the public sector and its unions. Cause those same taxpayers are the workers who are unionized and who use public services.

Part 1: Third Way for Health Care

“I don't think it's two tier,” Mr. Klein said. “I guess it's subjective.”

Today Ralph announced his plans for introducing two tiered health care in Alberta. And it will have a major impact on Health Care across Canada.

Klein launches 'third way' for health care
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has unveiled changes to the province's health-care system, his long-awaited "third way" mix of public and private options. At a news conference with provincial Health Minister Iris Evans on Tuesday morning, Klein released a plan to transform the system. They fended off questions about whether it would contravene the Canada Health Act or create a two-tier system. "The things that are medically necessary will be provided," Evans said. Klein repeatedly said that he couldn't answer those questions because the province is just starting to form the new strategy. "You don't snap your fingers and it doesn't happen overnight," he said.

Oh that Ralph he is so coy, overnight indeed, he has been planning this for six years since the passing of Bill 11.

Among the changes cited in a 12-point plan released on Tuesday, Alberta plans to:
* Change regulations to provide choice in hospital rooms and enhanced medical goods and services.
* Develop a Health Care Assurance Act for Albertans.
* Expand primary health-care services.
* Control spiraling drug costs.
* Increase the number of health-care providers.
* Improve health services in rural communities.

Alberta's Third Way
By SCOTT DEVEAU
Tuesday, July 12,
Globe and Mail Update
The Alberta government announced its Third Way to provide health care in the province at a press conference in Calgary Tuesday.“The action will start immediately,” Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said Tuesday.
Among the reforms, Mr. Klein announced that Albertans would be able to use secondary insurance to help pay for podiatry and chiropractic services beyond what's covered by Alberta health care by the end of this month.
By September, the province hopes to allow patients in hospitals to choose special accommodations above the standard hospital room and to choose enhanced medical goods and services beyond what doctors decide is medically necessary. Regional health authorities will be able to charge for those special accommodations, Mr. Klein said.

A standing room-only crowd greets the premier. He tells the assembled he only has a few minutes because he has to meet some young farmers.

Do his government's proposals break the Canada Health Act? "No," replies Ralph, who does not elaborate.

What happened to all that stuff about taking on the feds? "We're just starting. You don't just snap your fingers and it doesn't happen overnight."

Where is this Third Way headed? Can you expand?

"I can't expand on it because I don't know. Something may or may not challenge the Canada Health Act."

What we do know is, among the ponderings and promises, people with money will be able to spend their scratch to get nicer hospital rooms and use insurance for services beyond what's covered now and walk on a fancy-pants Birmingham replacement hip rather than the regular-people Premier's Choice replacement hip.

Next year, what's covered by the public plan and what's not will be up for discussion. But Ralph will be gone or very near the exit sign. For now, we see these extras for the affluent, yet another spin on Ralph's Alberta Advantage. By RICK BELL -- Calgary Sun

Well the Supreme Court opened the can of worms with its ruling on provinces responsibility to provide health care for its citizens even if that meant private health care plans. Top court strikes down Quebec private health-care ban

And now Ralph has announced, wait for it, that he intends to apply this in Alberta as part of his Third Way for Healthcare. That is instead of using the American model of privatization he will use the European/British model of two tiered health care. That model of economic efficiency that almost destroyed the British NHS.

Ever since Bill 11 was passed in Alberta, and the weak kneed Feds failed to challenge Ralph over it, his agenda has been to allow for privatization of health care by hook or by crook. And so far many crooked backdoor privatization schemes have occured, mainly in Calgary. All of them associated with members of his party and government.

While Quebec stalls on what the meaning of the Supreme Court ruling means to their highly privatized healthcare system, Montreal has become the private health-care capital of Canada, Ralph has picked up the ball the Fed's fumbled and has declared war on Canada's Public Health Care system.

It's the showdown that has been waiting for five years, and with a Minority Liberal Government facing a BQ and Conservative opposition that will defend Ralph for their own reasons, (the BQ because it will defend Provincial Autonomy and the Conservatives, well they are from Alberta and are the party of privatization) don't expect much but the gnashing and grinding of teeth from Health Minister Dosanjh.

"In Ottawa, Federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh pledged to enforce the Canada Health Act. He said Ottawa is in talks with "Alberta, B.C., Quebec and other provinces where there may be violations on diagnostic or surgical aspects of health care." Describing the health act as the "charter of medicare," Dosanjh said the legislation is a "very important instrument in maintaining our system of health care across the country and it will be enforced." Dosanjh said Health Canada is investigating alleged violations, but was not more specific." Clinics' spread vexes ministers

The Feds may have little stomach for a fight with Ralph as our toothless Health Minister confirmed;

In Ottawa, federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said his initial reaction was positive. "No user fees and no queue-jumping are the linchpins of our medicare system," Dosanjh said."These fundamental characteristics of our system will continue to be protected for all Canadians. "I am pleased to see Alberta has reaffirmed its commitment to the Canada Health Act, and that the proposed package, in my view, indicates a generally positive step in ensuring better health care for Albertans."
Klein: let patients buy better service

The media made a big deal with selective quoting of the former NDP Premier of Saskatchewan; Roy Romanow, who did the Romanow Report on Medicare, claiming he was not opposed to Ralph's plan.

Roy Romanow, the former Saskatchewan premier who headed the 2002 royal commission on health care, said the reforms appeared "pretty mild" and most would likely not breach the federal universality provisions.
Klein: let patients buy better service

What he actually said was that Ralphs plan still leads to two tiered care:

But former federal health commissioner Roy Romanow, who led a federal commission on the health care system, says while he has no problem with the proposal on hospital rooms, putting a price tag on joint replacements amounts to two-tiered care. He also attacked the notion that adding more private health care to the system would reduce the load on the public system. "Take a look at the United Kingdom, take a look at France, take a look at any of those countries that have attempted this and what happens is, the wait times increase both in the public sector and in the private sector." CBC Saskatchewan

Canadians who support public services and public delivery of those services, view it as money well spent. Those on the right view it as limiting their friends from making a profit off of us. Be afraid Canada, be very afraid, Ralph and his federal counterparts in Harpers Conservatives will be out to convince you that two tiered health care is the best reform for medical services delivery.

The Alberta Federation of Labour pointedly stated that; More private health insurance will increase business costs and undermine "Alberta Advantage" Corporate Alberta should take tories out to the woodshed. I like that last bit but unfortunately Corporate Alberta likes two tiered medicare, after all THEY CAN AFFORD IT.

Other critics have panned the plan that's not a plan.

"This isn't a plan, it's a grab bag of ideas big and small, new and old. It appears to reflect the split in the government caucus between those, including Premier Klein, who want more privatization, and those who champion public health care, as does Health Minister Iris Evans." Edmonton Journal Editorial.

"The rich in this province will get the Birmingham hip and the rest of us will get the tragically hip," Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason said of specialized hip surgery which has fewer complications and works better in younger, active patients than traditional hip replacements. The bone-conserving procedure can be three times more expensive than a traditional hip replacement and is only available in Calgary as part of a pilot project.
Klein: let patients buy better service

I like that sound bite Brian. And folks please note where is this hip replacement procedure only available? Like I have said before there is Alberta, and then there is Calgary, and the Klein agenda is set in Calgary by the PC's (Party of Calgary).

The health care “reforms” announced by the Alberta government yesterday take the province further down the dangerous path to a full two-tier health care system, says AUPE President Dan MacLennan. “Albertans should be gravely concerned about the idea of allowing the wealthy to pay extra for ‘enhanced’ health care services,” MacLennan said. “There is a great risk that it will not be long before what we now think of as a basic medical necessity will be described as ‘enhanced.’Allowing physicians to offer Cadillac services to well-heeled patients will over the long term drive many medical professionals out of the public health system to run purely for-profit medical businesses, he warned. “The danger is that waiting lists for basic public health services will grow longer and that the quality of service in the public health system will get worse."
Alberta health care ‘reforms’ increase risk of creating two-tier health system

"Third Way" is the Evolution of Private Health Care

CUPE Alberta President decries sneaking in two-tier system by stealth

Government’s plan more of the same private health agenda

Albertans have long rejected two-tier care for the privileged.
Says the UNA press release

"Alberta's Liberal opposition immediately criticized the proposals and called on the federal government to penalize Alberta. "There's no question we're headed towards a two-tiered health-care system," said Liberal Leader Kevin Taft. "That just goes against everything that we stand for in Alberta." Government’s “Third Way” Fails to Address Real Health Care Issues, Taft.

The Friends of Medicare, a lobby group fighting privatization of health care, said the new system could allow doctors to line their pockets by pressuring patients."Allowing doctors to charge an extra fee to provide an enhanced system -- a hip or surgery or service -- will create pressure for doctors to oversell to patients," said spokesman Harvey Voogd."It will create a conflict of interest for the patient-doctor relationship."

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation applauded the move, though, saying patients "should have the right to spend their own money on health-care services for themselves and their loved ones." Alberta: better health care for wealthy

Oh there's those taxpayers again, they are a business lobby and of course they think this is great. Right up there with tax breaks. They like the idea that those that can afford to pay for private services should be able to. But boy they hate the idea of making the rich pay for public health care for everyone.

It's an old story, as old as Medicare itself, when Tommy Douglas introduced single payer health care in Saskatchewan and Alberta offered the 'choice' of multiple payer plans. What goes around comes around.

And if that isn't scary enough for those of you on summer vacation how about two tier daycare. Scrap the National Daycare plan the Liberals tried to introduce, Alberta has swung it's own deal for public funding of private service delivery.

Part 2: Daycare

In Alberta the Ralph Regime rolls on, taxing federal tax money to fund private for profit daycare and babysitting services. The impact of the Federal Government funding two tier daycare in Alberta cannot be underestimated for the rest of Canada. CUPE has figured it out, Alberta deal opens the door to big box child care

Be afraid Canada be very afraid, cause what happens here will impact on you too. Conservative provincial governments will adopt the Klein agenda with a me too attitude. Heck even Liberal Provincial governments like those in B.C. and Quebec will follow the Klein lead.

The Liberals began pursuing provincial side-deals after Dryden failed to get all 10 provinces and three territories to sign one deal for national standards.Quebec and Alberta have balked at the plan, saying they don't want Ottawa to dictate to them how to spend the money. CTV News

The Alberta NDP plead;Allow parents to choose high quality, low-cost, non-profit child care - Martin So what happens to all that provincial tax money that funded daycare, will it be used to supplement the federal windfall, I doubt it. More than likely it will be adjusted in the provincial budget and disappear into the general revenues.

And the federal money? Will it be used to fund early education programs? Nah, more than likely it will fund training programs for Baba and Dido to learn how to babysit, as New Brunswick Conservative Preimier Bernard Lord has proposed. Premier advances N.B. position on federal child-care funding With tax credits for the rest of us, which will hardly pay for a years worth of groceries let alone the cost of daycare services.

This is the free choice model of the federal Conservatives for daycare, give parents choice, which just means giving taxpayers back their money, while leaving public day care to dangle by the rope of underfunding.

Costlier Medicare Advantage plans do not always offer better quality

Better metrics needed to help consumers make quality-focused choices

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RAND CORPORATION

Enrolling in a highercost Medicare Advantage plan may not always get seniors better quality health care, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Examining 15 different measures of quality among large representative samples of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans during 2016 and 2017, researchers found that plans that charged a higher monthly premium provided on average only slightly better care as compared to plans with no monthly premium.

Quality varied substantially within each premium cost tier studied, with high-quality care being observed among a number of plans in each of the cost tiers. More than 700 Medicare Advantage plans were part of the analysis.

The findings are published in the latest edition of JAMA Health Forum.

“Paying higher premiums is not necessary to receive high quality care from a Medicare Advantage plan,” said study lead author Amelia M. Haviland, a professor of statistics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University and an adjunct statistician at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “Seniors should look at metrics other than premium costs alone when looking for a Medicare Advantage plan that offers a high-quality of care, including direct measures of quality, such as Star Ratings.”

Health care costs are a concern for both consumers and policymakers. People enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans report that price measures such as premium costs and co-pays are their primary consideration when selecting a plan.

To examine the link between premium cost and quality, RAND researchers analyzed information about the care delivered to people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. About 40% of the enrollees were in plans with no monthly premium, while 6% were in plans with a monthly premium of more than $120.

Medicare Advantage plans provide coverage for hospital and physician services like traditional Medicare fee-for-service, but typically also offer additional services such as coverage for dental care and eyeglasses. In exchange for additional services and lower co-pays, members are restricted to in-network providers. More than one-third of Medicare enrollees choose Medicare Advantage plans.

The information used to measure the quality of care from Medicare Advantage plans included clinical quality measures based on administrative information such as medical charts involving more than 2 million enrollees. Those quality measures included items such as whether patients received recommended cancer screenings, whether high blood pressure was controlled and whether diabetes was treated adequately.

The analysis also examined surveys of more than 168,000 randomly sampled plan participants who were asked about their experiences with health care, prescription drug coverage and their plan. Those measures included the ability to get care, the ability to get care quickly and getting needed drugs.

Across most measures, people enrolled in the two higher-premium plan tiers reported similar or slightly better experiences on average than enrollees in the lower-premium categories. For example, people enrolled in the highest premium tiers were more likely to receive annual flu shots.  

However, on one measure, lower-cost plans offered better care. People enrolled in lower-tiered plans received better care on average for osteoporosis than their peers enrolled in higher-premium plans.

Given that many high- and low-quality plans were found in each of the premium tiers we studied, the premium cost is a poor proxy for assessing the quality of a Medicare Advantage plan,” Haviland said. “Making plan quality information more accessible and salient to consumers is a key to reducing consumers’ costs while improving quality.”

Support for the study was provided by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  Other authors of the study are Sai Ma of Humana, and David J. Klein, Nathan Orr and Marc N. Elliott, all of RAND.

RAND Health Care promotes healthier societies by improving health care systems in the United States and other countries. 

 

---

JOURNAL

JAMA Health Forum

DOI

10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.2826 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Association of Medicare Advantage Premiums With Measures of Quality and Patient Experience

The Gloves Are Off

Wow what a short honeymoon. Harper is still only a designated hitter, err PM, has no cabinet yet isn't sworn in and already King Ralph of Alberta has come out swinging. It gives new meaning to the Battle of Alberta. Calgary Premier against Calgary PM.

EDMONTON - The Alberta government is considering legislation that would no longer recognize the supremacy of the Canada Health Act, would allow doctors to practice medicine concurrently in the private and public systems and could open the door to for-profit hospitals operated by foreign corporations, the Edmonton Journal has learned.

The new Alberta Health Care Assurance Act, which Premier Ralph Klein insists will be tabled in the legislature this spring, replaces three existing laws, including the once-controversial Health Care Protection Act, known widely as Bill 11.

Some members of the government are worried Mr. Klein is deliberately testing the limits of the federal government, and that he will cause a rift between Alberta and the newly elected Conservative government.

In a worst-case scenario, Ottawa could cut some of the $2-billion in health transfers it sends to Alberta for public health services.

Blogging Tory Dissonance and Disrespect chortles with glee (what did you expect with a blog title like that) that Harper is between a rock and a hard place. He is hopeful of course that Harper will allow Klein to dismantle medicare in Alberta, which he and other rightwingers call a public monopoly.

I would rather have a public system (it's far from a monopoly there are hospitals, and health clinics as well as specialist services covered by medicare) than a private one any day.

The creation of the private utility monopolies/oligopolies with electrical deregulation in Alberta has meant increasing costs to consumers.Something we will look forward to if Klein gets his way with privatizing health care.

Specialists will move out of public hospitals to create competing services in the private sector. Which will not reduce wait times. Wait times main barrier to specialized care: study

A clear example is the abundance of private laser surgery eye clinics in Alberta. Ironically laser eye surgery was first developed in the Soviet Union, to reduce cataract operation wait times.

On the other hand the rational Blogging Tory Political Staples is worried about the Klein challenge to Harper and well he should be, it will be the first real crisis the new PM faces.

Klein likes to talk about how much money Alberta spends on healthcare, which is just behind Newfoundland in per person spending. But our healthcare still costs less than the privatized system south of the border costs each person! And as the Conference Board report on health care issued today says;

the findings demonstrate that "money is not the panacea in providing better health care. Spending larger sums of money does not necessarily translate into high performance. It is how the money is spent rather than how much, that appears to make the difference."

Also see:

Showdown at the OK Corral

Klein My Way Healthcare Reform

Klein Dares Harper

Beware the Boogey Man

Two Tier Alberta

Alberta Cowboys Hijack Health Care

Whose The Real Rodeo Clown

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Medicare Calgary Style

Forget the idea that Ralph Kleins Third Way is Alberta's way it's the Calgary Way. As I have said before the PC's in Alberta are the Party of Calgary. Its the home of the right wing in Canada, as well as new home of Canada's corporate elite and their Headquarters. And for years it has had the honorific of being the largest American city north of the 49th parallel.

Being the brain trust of the neo-conservative revolution in Canada, when the neo-cons didn't like the Calgary Board of Education and its failure to adapt to their demands they pushed through Charter Schools and taxpayer funding for private schools. Calgary now has the largest number of private and charter schools in Canada.

Privatization of liquor and Electrical Deregulation came out of the Calgary business community and its control of the PC's. In particular it was promoted by Steve West, Ralph Kleins old drinking buddy. And despite protests by Ron Southern, Mr. Trilateral Commission, and Tory bagman for years, owner of ATCO, a private electrical supplier, the voice of Transalta, the private Calgary energy giant won out. On its board is the next CEO err Premier of Alberta, Jim Dinning.

What Calgary wants Calgary gets. The Gimball eye clinic started in Calgary, and thus the road towards two tier privatized health care began.Gimball ironically like all other laser eye surgery clinics, learnt the technique in the Soviet Union, where it was developed in the Ukraine to reduce waiting times for cataract surgery.

Private MRI clinics first developed in Calgary, prior to opening in other cities in Alberta. A conglomerate of doctors and investors, with the aid of the husband of a sitting MLA started the first private contract clinic which provides services to the WCB.

Two private health corporations are looking at opening up private surgical hotel overnight hospitals in Calgary.

The Klein announcement of creating a parallel private healthcare system in Alberta yesterday with his white paper on the so called Third Way, is another Calgary scheme. And Canadians in other provinces should be afraid. But not for reasons that you think.

The Third Way in health care
01-03-06, 9:32 pm @ Tory Thoughts

We all saw it coming. The writing was on the wall. The threats had been made. Ralph Klein has unveiled the framework of his Third Way health-care reform. As a Tory, I find myself wondering about the premier's motives for dismantling public health care. Most Albertans are Tories, but that doesn't mean they want to favour the rich and wealthy, so that they can go queue-jumping at the expense of those with less money in their pockets.

This Tory is right. He should be afraid. With a surplus as large as the Federal Governments, and with 25 Conservative MP's from Alberta, including the PM, Klein is preparing to defeat the Canada Health Act simply by bypassing it.

A little help
01-03-06, 7:03 pm @ Occam's Carbuncle

Could somebody please direct me to the provision of the Canada Health Act that bans privately insured medical services or direct payment by patients to health care providers?

Sure, the Canadian Health Act does not say you cannot have a parallel private health care system, nor does it ban privatized services, Klein can have his cake and eat it too.

The reality. Private clinics

There is nothing in the 1984 Canada Health Act or any of the subsequent policy directives from Ottawa that bans private clinics, provided they charge only the going Medicare rates and are paid by provincial plans.

Indeed, in Ottawa’s most stringent directive on the subject—the 1995 letter from former Liberal health minister Diane Marleau—provinces are allowed to pay for medically necessary work at private clinics as long as there is no separate facility fee charged by these clinics, or as long as the provincial plan picks up that tab as well.

The objective here is simply to eliminate any kind of user fee that might act as a bar to someone seeking service. So as long as Alberta hews to the policy on facility fees, it should be home free.

What this means is as I said here, Klein wants to build a private system to attract business. The Calgary gang which has money wants its cake and eat it too. They want their own medical system. Where they can get services and an overnight stay, bed and breakfast and the National Post delivered to the door. Drycleaning is optional.

The idea and Klein has said this before, is to attract those who would go out of the country to get private care. He wants them to come to Calgary for those services.
In fact the idea is to have Americans as well as folks from Ontario and Quebec come here. If they can afford it.

And the doctors, well they will come here too. From Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, B.C., anywhere that pays less than what Hotel Calgary will pay for their services.

And they will be able to have their wages guarnteed by Alberta Healthcare, consider it their base pay, which their private services will top up. It's a win win.
If you are a specialist.

Unruffled Evans preferred to call it a search "for the middle ground, where we can build on our capacity to serve Albertans." She might also have mentioned that it's likely a matter of time before Canada's doctors challenge the restrictions placed on them by medicare. We have the only system in the world that dictates working conditions for supposedly self-employed physicians.

Think of it Alberta is currently cutting edge in medical research, in heart operations, in childrens diseases, in diabetes research, etc. etc. What will now stop this research from becoming a business, an industry, funded by the government but patents and procedures being done for private profit. Nothing.

Alberta already has taken steps to increase the amount of doctors that can practice here by dropping the restrictions on retraining that immigrant doctors face elsewhere in Canada. These doctors are the replacement workers for doctors who will move out into private practice.

Canadians should be afraid. You stand to lose your doctors and nurse practicioners, and specialists to Alberta. You stand to see your provincial healthcare funds going to pay for services in Alberta. And if the Harper government passes its healthcare waiting times reforms, which guarntee that you can get services anywhere in Canada, well Alberta will benefit. We have already reduced waiting times for hip surgery, one of the things the Third Way will allow private practice in, from 47 weeks to 4.7 weeks in our public hospitals.

So Harper and Health Minister Clement can stare at the white paper all they like its whats not printed on the page that says it all. And while Clement isn't in the know every MP from Calgary including the PM is.

The Third Way is Calgary's Way of becoming the Mayo Clinic North. Would you like a glass of wine with that hip surgery sir?

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Klein My Way Healthcare Reform

It is known in Alberta as the 'Third Way, for medicare reform. But in reality it should be called Ralph Kleins My Way or the Highway medicare reform.

I am not the only one concerned about the Klein Government announcement this week that he will challenge the Canada Health Act with his long awaited Third Way reforms that will supposedly be introduced into the next sitting of the Legislature in February.

This will be six years after the passage of Bill 11 which opened the door to private health care in Alberta. A bill which saw mass spontaneous demonstrations at the Legislature, some of the largest ever, attempts to take over the Leg.

Despite all that and a continued fight against the privatization of health care, and despite numerous costly studies by the Klein government on how to privatize, studies which continued to show it was a DUMB idea, ah well now Ralph can push ahead with little or no opposition from Ottawa. Or so he thinks.

Blogging Tory CIVITANTENSIS says its Deja Vu all over again, and wonders why the PC caucus unanimously approved it. Well probably they didn't, since Ralph has lied before about caucus unaniminity. CIVITANTENSIS also wonders why Ralph is challenging Stephen Harper over this.

Well thats simple; in Alberta it doesn't matter the government in power in Ottawa, they are all 'Eastern Bastards' to good old Klein. Opps except Harper is from Calgary. Good point that. Now we will see who is loyal to Harper and the Conservatives and who is loyal to King Ralph and his Party of Calgary.

Calvert fears Klein's reforms

"I have never quite understood the specifics of what the Third Way is,'' Calvert said. "If the Third Way finds itself to be in violation of the Canada Health Act -- the principles and values expressed in the Canada Health Act -- then I oppose any violation of that Act, its principles and its values, anywhere in Canada.''

The Alberta premier was also quoted as saying he believes the Canada Health Act, designed to help the federal government ensure the province and territories adhere to the principles of a free and universal publicly funded health system, should be amended in the future.

Klein said he and Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper "are on the same wavelength'' and the federal leader promised during a brief conversation with Klein on Thursday to respect areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Calvert stressed the role of the federal government is to ensure the Canada Health Act's principles and values are being adhered so that Canadians can be confident health care will be provided no matter where they live or what is available in their wallet.

"That is the role of a national government and I would look to Mr. Harper's government to maintain that role,'' he said.

Also see:

Klein Dares Harper

Beware the Boogey Man

Two Tier Alberta

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He Will Fight To The Death

Our wonderful wacko King Ralph has picked another fight he can't win and he knows it. Just like he was going to fight to the death to oppose Same Sex Marriage....didn't happen. Fight to the death not to recognize Sexual Orientation in the Alberta Individual Rights Act.....didn't happen. Fight to the death opposing Federal Firearms Registry.....didn't happen. But he sure as heck spent lots of taxpayers money on expensive futile court cases. And he blustered and blathered and got lots of press. He talked tough and that was about as tough as it got. Talk

And now he will fight to the death for his Third Way.....yeah right.....As Sheila Copps says in her column today;

On the contrary, the bigger the fight Klein could pick with Ottawa, the better his chances of rolling to successive victories in a virtual one-party province. Fed-bashing works. The Parti Quebecois have known that for years. But their anti-Canada positions on just about everything pale in comparison with the untouchable Klein formula. Klein has regularly coasted to victory by picking phony fights with Ottawa Carbon tax? We will fight it to the death. Global warming? Another ruse by those damn Easterners to hurt the Alberta economy. Klein could give lessons to the separatists. But he has a history of picking fights he cannot win.

Hey Sheila agrees with me. Nice to see. Well what does Klein have that Ottawa and Quebec and Ontario doesn't? A War Chest. Cut payments to Alberta for violating the Canada Health Act and he just rolls on and does it anyways cause of a $14 Billion dollar surplus. What are they gonna do? Its been done before. Klein has done it. Refused to accept the CHA and paid the fines.

So does that mean he will win his fight? Nope cause he has alienated his rank and file, his backbenchers and his cabinet. This is his fight alone. And Rod Love is gone. So there are no breaks on the drunk with power. He will spend what he has to shadow boxing and then capituate as he has before. He is all bellow and bluster. Sigh just can't wait till the door slaps him on the ass as he leaves. And that sigh was from the Conservative party not from me.



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Public Health Care The Election Issue

If I Lie May My Nose Grow

Well King Ralph kind of said that about his intentions around Privatizing Health Care in Alberta, just in time for the Federal Election.

"I've got to be honest. You know, I can't tell a lie, because you (reporters) would be on my case. "So I'll explain exactly what we are doing (in terms of proposed health-care reforms)... the process that we are going through and I hope that people will understand that and I hope that the federal Liberals will not use it as political fodder." The comments were greeted with resignation within the federal Conservative party.” I’m disappointed, but I'm not surprised," said a senior Conservative organizer in Ontario.

Private health grist for election mill?

Klein expects issue to be raised on Eastern tour

James Baxter, The Edmonton Journal, Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Oh goodie we will finally find out what the Kings great but still secret plan is for Health Care reform. Cause ever since Bill 11 its been all about privatizing health care. So that’s six years that the volk in the Alberta Reich have waited for our glorious leader to let us know that the plan is. But the irony is that we will find out cause he intends to tell the ‘Eastern Bastards’ his plan. Sure, right, and I have a bridge in Southern Alberta for sale. He actually will tell them exactly what we know, that privatization is coming, soon, well actually after we get another study done, plus another conference, until we can fill a room with our experts who will say privatize or die trying, and well you get the picture. It ain’t happening, privatization is Alberta’s poison pill,agianst the Federal Government. Where it used to be oil, King Klein has made his Bunker Hill (pardon the pun), Health Care. He intends to privatize health care as he began back in 1995, though by no means as much as has been done in Quebec since that time. Even after Bill 11 the whole Klein Health Care agenda has been to see how far they can push privatization under the existing Canada Health Act. While tinkering here and there the whole Klein agenda has been about bluff and bluster. There have been lots of studies, conferences, studies, consultants, more conferences, focus groups, the Mazankowski Report, Report on Mazankowski, recommendations, recommendations shelved. And whenever a Health Care announcement like the Klein ‘Third Way’ is made, then it is studied to death, more focus groups, etc. And the plan is well so generalized you could read anything into it. And don’t be putting any wagers on it cause with a mere shift in the wind, a bit of a blast from editorial writers, a protest organized by Friends of Medicare, and finger to the wind the Klein Reich quickly goes about changing the offending comments, oh like personal medical accounts, and then sneaks it in the back door.

Such is the case with AON Consultants who got a rigged bid contract to look at privatizing Alberta Health Care, and low and behold if they had not presented the Klein Krew with a recommendation about personal medical accounts.

Should the Harper be worried? You betcha, so should Martin. Cause Health Care has become the single issue the NDP can claim the high ground on and actually make THE ELECTION ISSUE.

Harold Jansen, a political scientist at the University of Lethbridge, said Harper may not have much to fear from Klein's health-care plans this time around. He does not expect health care to be the hot-button issue it was in 2004. For the federal Liberals to attack Alberta, he said, they will also have to challenge moves toward privatization that Quebec and British Columbia have already made. "I think health care is more or less old news now. The difference is that the private health-care genie is now out of the bottle," he said, referring to the Supreme Court decision earlier this year that upheld a patient's right to pay for medical care to end suffering when waiting times are too long. "I think it would be hard (for Martin) to demonize Alberta."

And he would be wrong about it NOT being THE Election issue. It will be, because it is the Liberals Achilles heel, without it they cannot entice soft social democrats, red liberals, with the boogeyman of the Conservatives. And as the polls show its going to be another minority government, or at least could be if the NDP get enough votes. To do that they have to make the Privatization of Health Care the issue. It’s what differentiates them from the Liberals. They gave the Liberals the chance to challenge the Supreme Court ruling by amending the Canada Health Act. And the Liberals blew it, they called the bluff , read the polls and figured they could chance a Christmas election.

The NDP attack on the Liberals last election over this was muted by the demonizing of the Harper by the Liberals. They played their trump card about Harpers secret agenda for Health Care. Sorry can’t use that again, because as Jansen says the cat is out of the bag, privatization of health care is the political reality today in Canada and the Liberals are no more prepared to confront it than the Tories are.

If it was only Klein the Federal Liberals would confront the issue, using Alberta as their whipping boy. But they can’t because Quebec sets the Federal Agenda, and is on the road to privatization as well. Asymmetrical privatization of health care is the Liberals downfall, as it is the Harpers. Harper has Klein as his albatross, Martin has Quebec. It is here where the Liberals cut down by Adscam, cannot risk challenging their provincial cousins. Nor can they afford to give the BQ and PQ anymore ammunition to use against them. In this case any attack on Quebec’s privatization of medical services would leave them open to accusations of interference in Quebec’s affairs.

The NDP on the other hand have no qualms about imposing a federalist solution where it is warranted. They did this with the NEP in Alberta in the 1980’s and could use Health Care as the issue on which to impose a Federalist model that would offend both Quebec and Alberta, but not their supporters or soft left Liberals or even Red Tories.

To do that the NDP has to make the Canada Health Act the issue, amending it, strengthen it, attaching strings to Federal Funding, all in the name of ending the biggest loophole in the Act, that it fails to mention privatization.

By making the issue strengthening the Canada Health Act to end privatization they can appeal that it can be done asymmetrically as each province has violated the Act in uncommon ways. That is services that are privatized are sufficiently different in each province that a federal act ending privatization would impact differently in B.C. than in Quebec, or Alberta, or PEI.

The Liberals made NAFTA the issue in the 1988 election and stole the show from the NDP. Last election Martin made Health Care the eleventh hour issue to differentiate the Liberals from Harpers Conservatives. This time this issue for the Liberals, Tories and Bloc is Gomery and Adscam. It’s an issue that the NDP left to the other opposition parties to pick the flesh off the bones of the Liberals.

Instead they have made the Democratic Deficit the issue, as well as health care and the environment. In the upcoming election Health Care is issue number one for the NDP. It’s why they cannot support the current Liberal regime. Then to deal with Gomery it’s their ethics package. Even the issue of Aboriginal Self Government, can be covered with the Broadbent Ethics package. And unlike the Liberals the NDP could make the seque to Aboriginal Self Government, while the Liberals are the party of the Department of Indian Affairs.

Finally with the climate change conference happening during the first weeks of the Election, the environment, Jacks personal peccadillo takes centre stage.

The NDP could not ask for a better time or a better election to actually make real gains in seats. Its there’s to lose. And they won’t if they make Health Care, Ethics, and the Environment their issues. Leaving the infighting to the other three.