Medicare: How to Keep and Improve It, Especially for Children

Tom Kent warns that equitable health care in Canada requires new federal action soon. For the past 20 years, medicare has been sustained by the public will – not by the actions of the federal government which, over time, has reneged on its cost-shared arrangements with the provinces. Mr. Kent puts forward a two-part proposal for saving and improving medicare. The first part entails full federal reimbursement of the provinces for their portion of medicare costs attributable to children up to age 10. This money would go into the medicare system as a whole to lessen current financial stringencies and improve the program for Canadians of all ages. The second part of the proposal involves federal-provincial collaboration in support of services for children. Ottawa would provide full funding while the provinces would deliver these services directly or through community-based groups. These services include nutritional supplements, nurse home visits and coverage of children for prescribed drugs, dental treatment, eyeglasses and technical aids for special needs. This component would add a crucial preventive dimension to the existing program.

ISBN – 1-895796-91-1