Debunking the Myths a Broader Perspective of the Canada Health Act Michael Watts SEPTEMBER 2013
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MEDICARE’S MID-LIFE CRISIS 2 Debunking the Myths A Broader Perspective of the Canada Health Act Michael Watts SEPTEMBER 2013 A Macdonald-Laurier Institute Series True North in Canadian Public Policy Board of Directors Advisory Council CHAIR Purdy Crawford Rob Wildeboer Former CEO, Imasco, Counsel at Osler Hoskins Executive Chairman, Martinrea International Inc., Jim Dinning Vaughan Former Treasurer of Alberta VICE CHAIR Don Drummond Jacquelyn Thayer Scott Economics Advisor to the TD Bank, Matthews Fellow Past President and Professor, Cape Breton in Global Policy and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at University, Sydney the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University MANAGING DIRECTOR Brian Flemming Brian Lee Crowley International lawyer, writer and policy advisor Former Clifford Clark Visiting Economist Robert Fulford at Finance Canada Former editor of Saturday Night magazine, columnist SECRETARY with the National Post, Toronto Lincoln Caylor Calvin Helin Partner, Bennett Jones LLP, Toronto Aboriginal author and entrepreneur, Vancouver TREASURER Hon. Jim Peterson Martin MacKinnon Former federal cabinet minister, Partner at CFO, Black Bull Resources Inc., Halifax Fasken Martineau, Toronto DIRECTORS Maurice B. Tobin John Beck The Tobin Foundation, Washington DC Chairman and CEO, Aecon Construction Ltd., Toronto Research Advisory Board Pierre Casgrain Janet Ajzenstat Director and Corporate Secretary of Casgrain Professor Emeritus of Politics, McMaster University & Company Limited, Montreal Brian Ferguson Erin Chutter Professor, health care economics, University of President and CEO, Puget Ventures Inc., Vancouver Guelph Navjeet (Bob) Dhillon Jack Granatstein President and CEO, Mainstreet Equity Corp., Calgary Historian and former head of the Canadian War Museum Keith Gillam President and CEO, Envirogreen Materials Corp., Patrick James Scottsdale Professor, University of Southern California Rainer Knopff Wayne Gudbranson Professor of Politics, University of Calgary CEO, Branham Group Inc., Ottawa Larry Martin Stanley Hartt George Morris Centre, University of Guelph Counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright, Toronto Christopher Sands Peter John Nicholson Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington DC Former President, Canadian Council of Academies, William Watson Ottawa Associate Professor of Economics, McGill University For more information visit: www.MacdonaldLaurier.ca Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................... 2 Discretionary Penalties ...................................12 Sommaire Exécutif ...................................... 3 Mandatory Penalties .......................................13 Introduction ................................................ 5 What the CHA Does Not Require ....................14 I. An Ailing Health Care System .................. 7 Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General) ..........15 Financial Difficulties ..........................................7 III. Change Is Coming, Whether Provinces Quality Concerns ..............................................8 Like it or Not ............................................. 19 Providers’ Viewpoints ........................................9 Future Reductions to the Canada Conclusion ......................................................10 Health Transfer ...............................................19 II. Interpreting the Law ............................ 10 A Hands-Off Approach by the Federal Government ...................................................20 Overview of Provincial versus Federal Powers ................................................10 Conclusion ......................................................21 What the CHA Requires ...................................11 About the Author ...................................... 22 The Five Criteria ..............................................11 References ................................................. 23 The Two Conditions ........................................12 Endnotes ................................................... 25 The author of this document has worked independently and is solely responsible for the views presented here. The opinions are not necessarily those of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, its Directors or Supporters. Michael Watts | September 2013 1 Executive Summary s it illegal under the Canada Health Act • does not dictate how insured health services for provinces to allow private delivery of must be provided; I care, charge user fees or even allow private • is silent on who may provide the services; insurance? Not in the least, but readers would • takes no stance on whether a physician may be forgiven for thinking so based on the rhetoric work both inside and outside the provincial surrounding proposals for health care reform. public insurance program; The unfortunate result of the disingenuous, • does not discuss whether fees may be charged poisonous and hyper-partisan commentary for non-insured health services; around Canada’s health care system is that in- • says nothing about whether insured services novative thinking has been stifled and the voices must be delivered by public entities; of well-intentioned and thoughtful politicians • does not define “medically necessary ser- and experts have been silenced. In the process, vices”; and many myths have taken root. If legislators falsely believe their actions are significantly restricted • does not prohibit a province from adding by the CHA, they will fail to consider and imple- other types of services to its list of insured ment essential changes. health services. What is the truth? Not only does the law allow for major reforms to how health care is delivered, it arguably requires To begin with, provinces have sole authority them. Any provincial system that creates a mo- over their own health care programs. The federal nopoly over the provision of health care and cre- government’s power under the CHA is limited ates barriers to access that jeopardize citizens’ to its ability to withhold portions of the Canada Charter rights (such as the rationing of care) is Health Transfer. As public policy expert Gerard subject to a constitutional challenge. Boychuk has written, the Act “neither has nor requires provincial consent and is not legally The landmark case of Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attor- ney General), which was decided by the Supreme binding on either party”. Court of Canada in 2005, provides an excellent And not only are the federal government’s pow- example of how the CHA is less restrictive than ers over the provinces on issues such as user most people believe it to be. This case, which fees and extra billing weaker than most believe, has significance for the entire country, makes the it is becoming less and less inclined to use them. powerful statement that if a vital health service is There is little evidence the federal government not provided by the government, an individual has ever imposed discretionary penalties on the has the constitutional right to pay for the service provinces over failures to uphold the Act, man- either directly or through private health insur- datory penalties have declined dramatically over ance. Although the facts of this case focus on a the years, and what few cases go to dispute res- patient’s right to have timely access to medical olution also tend not to result in reductions in services, there are other implications, such as health transfers. a patient’s right to access medically necessary services that the government chooses not to in- It is vital to note the areas where the CHA re- sure. The majority of the Supreme Court held mains silent or, put another way, those subjects that Quebec’s law prohibiting private insurance over which it provides zero power for the fed- for medically necessary hospital and physician eral government to withhold health transfers to services violated the Quebec Charter, and that the provinces. The CHA: lengthy wait times and delays in obtaining treat- 2 Debunking the Myths: A Broader Perspective of the Canada Health Act ment cause patients both physical and mental harm. Sommaire Chaoulli has created the foundation to dramati- cally alter the landscape of the Canadian health Exécutif care system, essentially standing for the propo- sition that the status quo no longer is a viable or st-il illégal en vertu de la Loi canadienne even a legal option. sur la santé (LCS) que les provinces au- E torisent la prestation privée des soins de Chaoulli was definitive confirmation that the santé, qu’elles imposent des frais modérateurs Charter provides protection against government ou même qu’elles permettent le recours à l’as- inaction, as well as protection for Canadians surance privée? Pas le moins du monde, mais les when government acts in violation of guaran- lecteurs doivent être excusés s’ils pensent ainsi, teed rights and freedoms. If governments wish puisque c’est ce que laisse entendre le discours to be the exclusive providers of health care ser- sur les propositions de réformes en matière de vices in a “public” system, they must provide soins de santé. health care in a manner that does not deprive in- Les arguments trompeurs, nocifs et démesuré- dividuals of life, liberty, or security of the person. ment partisans qui ont été au centre du débat As Chief Justice McLachlin wrote for the majority sur le système de soins de santé du Canada ont in Chaoulli, “access to a waiting list is not access eu comme conséquence de décourager une to health care.” démarche innovatrice et de réduire au silence les politiciens et les experts bien intentionnés In