It has long been obvious that, when Ontario’s political leaders hit the hustings this fall, none of them will be eager to discuss with voters the difficult questions about how to make the public health system sustainable.
But there’s some hope that, if nothing else, the coming campaign will move the province toward taking a necessary (if relatively easy) step toward bracing the system for the onslaught of an aging population.
The expansion of publicly funded home care is a rare sort of sweet spot – a policy that has the potential to win votes for politicians while actually saving governments money down the road. To a great many people, there is considerable appeal in giving themselves, their parents or their grandparents the opportunity to be cared for in their later years in the comfort of their own homes, rather than in hospitals. And for governments, that option has the potential to help clear up one of the biggest drivers of health-care costs – the so-called “bed blockers” who tie up roughly 20 per cent of hospital beds, even though they could be treated elsewhere.
This appears not to have been entirely lost on any of the provincial parties. The Progressive Conservatives promise, albeit rather vaguely, that they would set up “a new government-funded home care provider.” The New Democrats pledge that they would deliver an additional million hours of home-care services each year. And sources say that the Liberals, who have made rather limited progress on home care during their eight years in office, are nevertheless considering making it a big part of their re-election platform.
If so, there’s plenty of room for Dalton McGuinty’s government to go above and beyond what’s currently on the table. While the NDP’s promise seems the most ambitious so far, it would represent just a 3-per-cent increase over existing home-care service – enough perhaps to help with current demand, but not to prepare for what’s coming. (Questionably, Andrea Horwath’s party claims it could do this while taking $65-million out of the $1.9-billion Ontario spends on home care each year by finding administrative savings.)
Full Article
Source: Globe & Mail
But there’s some hope that, if nothing else, the coming campaign will move the province toward taking a necessary (if relatively easy) step toward bracing the system for the onslaught of an aging population.
The expansion of publicly funded home care is a rare sort of sweet spot – a policy that has the potential to win votes for politicians while actually saving governments money down the road. To a great many people, there is considerable appeal in giving themselves, their parents or their grandparents the opportunity to be cared for in their later years in the comfort of their own homes, rather than in hospitals. And for governments, that option has the potential to help clear up one of the biggest drivers of health-care costs – the so-called “bed blockers” who tie up roughly 20 per cent of hospital beds, even though they could be treated elsewhere.
This appears not to have been entirely lost on any of the provincial parties. The Progressive Conservatives promise, albeit rather vaguely, that they would set up “a new government-funded home care provider.” The New Democrats pledge that they would deliver an additional million hours of home-care services each year. And sources say that the Liberals, who have made rather limited progress on home care during their eight years in office, are nevertheless considering making it a big part of their re-election platform.
If so, there’s plenty of room for Dalton McGuinty’s government to go above and beyond what’s currently on the table. While the NDP’s promise seems the most ambitious so far, it would represent just a 3-per-cent increase over existing home-care service – enough perhaps to help with current demand, but not to prepare for what’s coming. (Questionably, Andrea Horwath’s party claims it could do this while taking $65-million out of the $1.9-billion Ontario spends on home care each year by finding administrative savings.)
Full Article
Source: Globe & Mail
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