Before asking my questions, I would like to move a motion that we do not need to bring to a vote now. It reads as follows:
That the Standing Committee on Health include in its study of Best Practices and Federal Barriers: Practice and Training of Healthcare Professionals the witness testimony from Meeting 47 (January 27, 2015) from its consideration of Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife.
I will now ask my questions.
In your three respective professions, not everyone has coverage. Often it is private insurers that pay, but people who are not covered by such insurance have to pay out of their own pockets.
In terms of access, it is not the mechanism that interests me. I would like to know what health problems could be prevented if the entire public had access to your health services.
I would also like to know whether you think that your skills are sometimes underutlilized.
In what specific areas could they be better utilized?
If we had better and more efficient access to your services, what would be the benefits to our health systems in terms of costs?
When it comes to affordable care, other ways of doing things sometimes cost more. In regard to chronic conditions and complications of health problems, I would like to know how much costs could be reduced if you could intervene at an earlier stage to help people's health.
I will let each association take a turn to answer this series of questions.