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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 20 ,2 01 9 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 WHO WE ARE Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane CONTACT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, con- dense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncana- dianchampion.com or call 905- 234-1019. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFP.CA EDITORIAL A universal national pharmacare program makes sense for Canada. But are Canadians willing to pay the price? Currently the country has more than 500 private drug plans and 100 public drug plans. What and who they cover depends largely on different criteria and different jurisdictions. What is the net result of this patchwork system? According to research done in 2017, 730,000 people skimped on food and another 238,000 spent less on home heating in 2016. The same research says more than 1.6 million Canadians - a little more than 8 per cent of those who were prescribed medication in 2016 - didn't fill the prescription or skipped doses because they couldn't afford to do otherwise. Inconsistent use of prescription medicine makes it less effective and often useless. People who sacrifice nutrition for prescription costs are at greater risk of serious illness, with expensive acute care including hospitalization required to mitigate the damage. Clearly, a universal plan like the one proposed last week by the National Advisory Council on pharmacare makes sense from a health care prospective. But can Canada afford it? The council proposing this plan says it will ultimately cost governments about $15 billion a year. That has credible critics, including for- mer Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, warning that taxes would need to increase to cover some of the higher costs. Otherwise, he warns, deficits for the feder- al government and the provincial governments taking part would grow significantly. But consider this: Research shows provincial, federal and territorial governments currently spend up to $34 billion on drug costs every year. Fifteen billion overall is a bargain by comparison. And no one is disputing that Canadians would save money as well as receive better pharmaceutical care. Estimates from the advisory council and other credible sources say the savings for would be between $4 billion and $5 billion each year. That's money that stretched consumers could keep in their wallets or spend on other necessities. Moving quickly on implementation would be good, but it's unlikely. Not only is the plan expensive, but the logistical challenges are enormous. First, a successful universal plan would have to be a joint effort on the parts of provincial and federal governments, and many provinces say they're only interested if Ottawa foots the entire bill. And while the potential of using Canada's united buying power to reduce drug costs is enormous, it's by no means simple. So it's a big, complicated challenge. But it makes sense, which is why pharmacare was always envisioned as part of universal health care. No government so far has had the fortitude to undertake the challenge. Will the Trudeau Liberals be different? PHARMACARE BIG CHALLENGE WITH BIGGER PAYOFF Patients often ask me what "wait times" are. "Wait time" is an unfortu- nately benign term for a big problem. Some patients wait months for a surgical consultation and years for the surgery itself. Some have waited years to get a family doctor. In fact, Ca- nadians wait longer, com- pared with other countries. Wait times mean some- one isn't getting the treat- ment they need when they need it. Consider the reasons why you go to the doctor's of- fice. Waiting for health care is not like standing in line at the grocery store. Patients waiting for a family doctor or a specialist are often in distress - stress, pain, uncer- tainty, suffering, disability. Waiting can be life-altering. Patients miss work, family obligations, community events. Some patients even die while waiting. Patients on a wait-list don't function at their best. The cost in lost productivi- ty alone was estimated at $2.1 billion in 2018. Access to a wait-list is not access to health care, to paraphrase a 2005 Su- preme Court ruling. De- spite that ruling, wait-lists are common. Thirty per cent of Canadians wait for medically necessary care. Our wait-lists now number in months to years. Despite that, one in five specialists are unable to find work. One in 13 Ontarians do not have a family doctor. And 31 medical students were unable to get placements after graduation, unable to take the final step to be- coming a doctor. Wait times are a complex issue that has to do with how the health-care system is planned, managed and funded. There is a straight line between the health care you see today and the deci- sions the government made over the past decade. Under- funded hospitals. Disorga- nized and siloed community services. Lack of integra- tion between in-patient and outpatient care. Physician unemployment and under- employment. As our population grows and gets older, health-care needs in- crease. Over the past de- cade, patient visits in- creased for MRIs and CTs, ophthalmologists, cardiol- ogists, general surgeons, and so on. Even though doctors work more, wait- lists continue to grow. The solution? Creating more resources when our provincial government is in deep debt is tough. But at least the government is making moves toward re- form. Time will tell wheth- er those moves are bold enough. Nadia Alam is a Georgetown physician and past president of the Onta- rio Medical Association. She can be reached at na- dia.alam@oma.org. WAIT TIMES FOR PATIENTS A GROWING PROBLEM BOLD GOVERNMENT REFORM NEEDED, WRITES NADIA ALAM NADIA ALAM Column