Thank you.
Over the past year, the Canadian Medical Association has engaged in a wide-ranging public consultation on health care, and we have heard from thousands of Canadians about their concerns. This exercise provided a road map for modernizing our country's health care system so that it puts patients first and provides Canadians with better value for money.
We found there was a groundswell of support for change amongst other health care providers, stakeholders, and countless Canadians who share our view that the best catalyst for transformation is the next accord on federal transfers to the provinces for health care.
That said, we have identified immediate opportunities for federal leadership in making achievable, positive changes to our health care system, which would help Canadians be healthier and more secure and would help ensure the prudent use of their health care dollars.
During our consultation, we repeatedly heard concerns that Canada's medicare system is a shadow of its former self. Once a world leader, it now lags behind systems in comparable nations in providing high-quality health care. Improving the quality of health care services is key if Canada is ever going to have a high-performing health system.
Excellence in quality improvement will be a crucial step towards sustainability. To date, six provinces have instituted health quality councils. Their mandates and their effectiveness in actually achieving lasting system-wide improvements vary by province. What is missing and urgently needed is an integrated pan-Canadian approach to quality improvements in health care in Canada that can begin to chart a course to ensure that Canadians ultimately have the best health and health care in the world. Canadians deserve no less, and there's no reason why these should not be achievable.
The CMA recommends that the federal government fund the establishment and adequately resource the operations of an arm's-length Canadian health quality council, with a mandate to be a catalyst for change, a spark for innovation, and a facilitator to disseminate evidence-based quality improvement initiatives so they become embedded in the fabric of our health system.
Canadians are increasingly questioning whether they are getting value for the $190 billion a year that goes into our country's health care system, and with good reason, as international studies indicate they're not getting good value for the money. Defining, promoting, and measuring quality care are not only essential to obtaining better health outcomes, they are crucial to building the accountability that Canadians deserve as consumers and funders of the system.
We also heard during our consultation that Canadians worry about inequities in access to care beyond the hospital and doctor services covered within medicare, particularly when it comes to the high cost of prescription drugs. Last year, one in 10 Canadians either failed to fill a prescription or skipped a dose because they couldn't afford it. I have an 82-year-old lady in my practice who takes her diabetic medications every second or third day because she can't afford to take them every day.
Our second recommendation, therefore, is that governments establish a program of comprehensive prescription drug coverage to be administered through reimbursement of provincial, territorial, and private drug plans to ensure that all Canadians have access to medically necessary drug therapies. This should be done in consultation with the appropriate insurance industries and the public. In the 21st century, no Canadian should be denied access to medically necessary prescription drugs because they are unable to pay for them.
Our third and final recommendation relates to our aging population and the concerns Canadians share about their ability to save for their future needs. We recommend that the federal government study options that would not limit PRPPs to defined contribution pension plans. Target benefit plans should be permitted and encouraged as they allow risk to be pooled amongst plan members, providing a vehicle that is more secure than are defined contribution plans. As well, the administrators of PRPPs should not be limited to financial institutions. Well-governed organizations that represent a particular membership should be able to sponsor and administer PRPPs for their own members.
The CMA appreciates that governments are moving ahead with the introduction of PRPPs; however, we note that they represent only one piece of a more comprehensive savings structure. We also continue to be concerned about the ability of Canadians to save for their long-term care needs. Whilst we have not included them in this pre-budget brief, the CMA holds to recommendations we have made in previous years that the federal government study options to help Canadians pre-fund long-term care.
In closing, let me simply say that carrying out these recommendations would make a huge positive impact soon and over the long term in the lives of literally millions of Canadians from every walk of life.
Thank you for your time.