CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alberta government can enact major health-care reforms—without contravening the Canada Health Act—that would shorten wait times and improve patient care, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Alberta is a relatively high-spender on health care with often middling to poor results to show for it, but fortunately the province can enact a number of policies to improve the system for Albertans,” said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Health Care Reform Options for Alberta.
Currently, Alberta is the second-highest spender on health care (per person) in Canada, but ranks near the middle or bottom among provinces in critical health-care resources. For example, Alberta ranks 5th out of the 10 provinces for the number of doctors, 7th for nurses, 5th for MRI units, 8th for CT scanners, and last year, Albertans faced a median health-care wait time of 26.1 weeks, 6th worst among the provinces.
The study outlines a number of possible health-care reforms that would improve timeliness of care, access to health resources and patient outcomes, including:
The study also examines other potential reforms, such as patient cost-sharing—a common feature in other successful universal health-care systems like Switzerland, the Netherlands and Australia—but it is currently prohibited in Canada due to federal legislation.
“Contrary to general perceptions, there are meaningful health-care reforms the Alberta government can pursue on its own, that don’t require Ottawa’s approval and would benefit Albertans,” said Jason Clemens, the Fraser Institute’s executive vice-president and study co-author.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bacchus Barua, Associate Director, Health Policy Studies
Fraser Institute
Jason Clemens, Executive Vice-President
Fraser Institute
To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Bryn Weese, Senior Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute
(604) 688-0221 Ext. 589
bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org