Canadian Medical Association Unveils Vision for Future of Medicare

CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) – The Canadian Medical Association says the private sector should be contracted to deliver publicly funded health-care services to prevent long delays for treatment.

Dr. Colin McMillan, the president of the association, is in Charlottetown where he is releasing a policy document that outlines the association’s new vision for the Canadian health-care system.

McMillan says Canadians need timely access to medical services and the private sector could offer a “safety valve” to ensure wait-time guarantees are met when the public sector can’t do the job.

Quebec currently offers this kind of private-sector option on a limited basis, but the association wants that system expanded across the country.

McMillan says there aren’t enough doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals, and the provinces and Ottawa must work together to increase those numbers.

And he says it’s time to look at the growing demand for prescription drug therapies and long-term care, and decide what Medicare should cover.