Health Care: To ease future cuts, the government established a budgeting system this year which would see much of the COVID-related funding budgeted under special funds distinct from the normal ministries. So much of the increased funding for the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Long-Term Care is not reflected
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Defend Public Healthcare: Health care funding $466 million less than budgeted
In the 2019/20 budget health care was budgeted at $59.97 billion. That was subsequently increased by over $450 million to $60.42 billion, mostly through Supplementary Estimates late in the fiscal year. The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) now reports (based on current, but not yet final figures) that health care spending
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Ford government plans to deepen privatization of hospital and home care services: Bill 175
The proposed reforms under Bill 175 will privatize health care services, weaken public oversight, remove legislative protections, undermine home care working conditions, and unleash an untested, home care experiment. Chaos beckons. Bill 175 is permissive, allowing a laissez-faire framework for home and community care. It repeals the more detailed Home
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Ford government will not spend $2 billion of its budget — deficit on track to fall $3 billion
As usual, the provincial government is under-spending its (revised) budget. Based on figures for provincial expenditures for the the first nine months of the fiscal year, the government-funded Financial Accountability Office (FAO) estimates that the government will under-spend its budget by about $2 billion this year. While that sounds like
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Ontario revenue up $1.5 billion since November – but no new health care spending announced
Ontario’s third quarter finances came out yesterday. They confirm that although planned health care funding has increased $404.1 million since the 2019/20 Budget, no further increase has been achieved since November’s Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review. That is another 0.64% funding increase achieved for health care since the Budget. Also notable:
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: PC Government Plans Many More Health Care Cuts
The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) Budget and Economic review has identified planned government spending savings that come via [1] announced program changes (program cuts like the government’s cut to OHIP+), [2] announced efficiency targets (identified areas where the government hopes it will find savings without program cuts), and [3] cuts
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Ford Plans to Cut Health Care Worker Benefits by $250 million
Attack on health care worker benefits: The Ontario Ford government has specifically targeted in the Budget reducing premium payments (e.g. shift payments), overtime, and sick leave for health care workers. The plan is to cut $250 million annually through such changes by 2020-21 (i.e. next year). As managers don’t get overtime
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Health Care Funding Means Cuts are Coming (and its Armageddon for other programs)
Hospital operating funding is budgeted to increase $384 million this fiscal year – close to a 2% increase compared to the interim estimated provincial funding for last year. This is about the same as the increases during the years of Liberal austerity and falls about 3% below cost pressures. Even if hospitals
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: 3000 more hospital beds? Rhetoric falls short of realty with Doug Ford’s government
Soon after the Budget, the government announced they would spend $27 billion on hospital infrastructure over ten years and create 3,000 more hospital beds. For a moment, it may have seemed that we had prized a small victory from the Ford government. The movement did, after all, force them to
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: Are health care administrative expenses out of control in Ontario?
The Progressive Conservative government has justified its health restructuring plans with the claim that administrative expenses are much higher in Ontario than in Canada. When introducing the reforms, health minister Christine Elliott claimed, “Over the last five years, Ontario has spent 30% more than the Canadian average in administrative expenses on
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