QUALITY OF LIFE: WE CAN AFFORD TO CARE
HEALTHCARE FUNDING:
CONTROLLING DRUG COST INCREASES
More money is spent on drugs than on physician care. Yet according to members of the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), about 80% of new drug products approved each year provide little or no advantage over existing treatments! No wonder so much money is spent on marketing to physicians by pharmaceutical companies! As a starting point, we all need to become much more sceptical towards so-called "innovations" in drug treatment. And we need a prescription-drug program on a self-funded basis for all Ontarians.
PHARMACARE SAVES
Double-digit annual drug-cost increases could be ended by a national and/or provincial Pharmacare program. Drug prices in New Zealand and Australia are one third less than in Canada through bulk buying under their Pharmacare programs. A provincial Pharmacare program could be run on a cost-recovery basis through a combination of LOW co-payments and annual insurance premiums that would be waived for all children as well as individuals on low incomes. A Pharmacare program could also begin to evaluate drug- prescription patterns and health outcomes and reduce any distortions caused by doctor-oriented drug- marketing programs.
In recent decades, many Ontarians have become familiar
with complementary or alternative healthcare. Since often these treatments
cannot be patented, there has been little formal testing of their effectiveness.
Are people just wasting their money? Does the government not have a responsibility
to investigate health practices? The Green Party believes that the effectiveness
of complementary healthcare should be rigorously tested. Those methods that
prove effective should be moved into the publicly-funded healthcare system.
Likewise, those methods that seek to exploit people’s fears should be
exposed.