My name is Robert Ouellet and I am a physician and President of the Canadian Medical Association.
Today I will share with you three recommendations for improving the health of Canadians and productivity of the Canadian economy: first, tax incentives for pre-paid long-term care insurance; second, tax incentives to retain and recruit more doctors and nurses; third, tax incentives to enhance health system productivity and quality improvements.
The first wave of baby-boomers will turn 65 in 2011. By 2031, seniors will comprise one-quarter of the population—double the current proportion of 13%. The challenge is the lack of health service labour force that will be able to care for this aging population.
Long-term care cannot and should not be financed on the same pay-as-you-go basis as medical/hospital insurance. Therefore the CMA urges the committee to consider either tax-pre-paid or tax-deferred options for funding long-term care. These options are examined in full in the package we have supplied you with today.
Second, Canada's physician shortage is a critical issue. However, despite this dire shortage, the Canada Student Loans Program creates barriers to the training of more physicians. Medical students routinely begin their post-graduate training with debts of over $120,000. Although still in training, they must begin paying back their medical school loans as they complete their graduate training. This policy affects both the kind of specialty that physicians-in-training choose, and ultimately where they decide to practice.
We urge this committee to recommend the extension of interest-free status on Canada student loans for all eligible health professional students pursuing post-graduate training.
Third, investment in information technology will lead to better, safer and cheaper patient care. In spite of the recent $400 million transfer to the Canada Health Infoway, Canada still ranks at the bottom of the G8 countries in access to health information technologies.
An Electronic Health Record could provide annual, system-wide savings of $6.1 billion every year and reduce wait times and thereby absenteeism. But the EHR potential can only be realized if physicians' offices across Canada are fully automated. The federal government could invest directly in physician office automation by introducing dedicated tax credits or by accelerating the capital cost allowance related to health information technologies for patients.
Before I conclude, the CMA again urges the committee to address a longstanding tax issue that costs physicians and the health care system over $150 million, or the equivalent of 60 MRI machines a year.
The application of the GST on physicians is a consumption tax on a producer of vital services. Nearly 20 years ago when the GST was put into place, physician office expenses were relatively low, for example: tongue depressors, bandages and small things. There was practically no use of computers or information technology. How many of you used computers 20 years ago? Now Canadian physicians could be using modern diagnostic equipment, which is very effective. And yet physicians must still pay the GST and provincial sales tax.