In Brief — Long Term Care Act to be proclaimed July 1 / David Dodge on health care

The Ontario Legislature is scheduling to proclaim the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 on July 1, 2010. The legislation had been awaiting proclamation pending the drafting of new regulations. The Long Term Care Homes Program Manual, previously used in the inspection and enforcement of standards in the homes, will no longer be in effect. With the new regulations covering far less than the original program manual, Ontario is set to effectively initiate significant de-regulation of nursing homes. …  According to a Health Canada survey, Canadians are happier with their health care these days. 44 per cent said the state of health care in Canada was good or excellent – that’s a seven per cent increase since the last survey in 2007, and 20 per cent better than 2004. Eight in 10 Canadians say they were satisfied with the care they received within the last year. However, 43 per cent say major changes are required, suggestive that what Canadians are reading and what they are experiencing may be two different things. … There was much interest in the comments of David Dodge, former Bank of Canada Governor, at the recent Liberal policy conference. When it comes to health care, Dodge says we “either have to pay for it through our taxes, through a special levy, or pay for it out of our pocket – and that has distributional consequences – but you can’t assume the problem away.” Dodge called for an “adult conversation,” suggesting “we just won’t put up with being denied access.” He also said the solution may lie in a number of “unpallatable choices.” The comments come at the same time that Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said he wouldn’t cut corporate taxes any further. Is it possible that we may be coming to a point where health care may be more important than tax cuts? We’ll see.