Rock hopes next health meeting will go beyond money

CMA News 2000;10(6): 1

Federal Health Minister Allan Rock and CMA President Hugh Scully discuss the state of Canada's health care system with the CMA Board of Directors

"Markham wasn't much of a meeting," said Rock. "It was more an opportunity for representatives from the provinces to emphasize that more money is needed for health."

Rock told board members that he continues to believe that a firm plan must be established on the specific areas where more money is needed as well as determining how much public money should go to what services.

"It's easy to say that the federal government should transfer more money," said Rock. "But it's also necessary for governments to work toward some kind of common approach on health priorities." He added that he hopes the CMA might be able to act as an intermediary to advance this cause.

"We need a meeting of the minds about where the system is going, what the issues are and what we need to look at changing."

While the CMA continues to call for the full restoration of federal funding for health care and an escalator mechanism to meet future needs, the association has also stated that federal funding is only one element of a long-term solution to ensure sustainability of the health care system.

Rock has tried to maintain a positive relationship with physicians and meets regularly with CMA representatives. He said that while he and CMA representatives, including President Hugh Scully, don't always see eye to eye on issues, they can still meet and have a "frank exchange of what is on our minds."

Board representatives seized the opportunity for such an exchange with Rock, pressing him on issues ranging from federal funding for medical schools (as was done in the 1960s, when four new medical schools received half of their funding from the federal government) to primary care reform.

A major issue raised was the apparent willingness of governments to quietly allow passive privatization to continue rather than spelling out what role private money can play in the system. Rock said that while the debate on what should be covered in the public system needs to take place, plans such as Alberta's recently passed Bill 11 fail in this regard because they do not expressly prohibit enhanced access to services for those willing to pay out of their own pocket, whether in a hospital or other setting.

"Hospitals are not the only place where the action is in health care," said Rock. "I'm suggesting we put extra hospital services on a more equal footing concerning what is covered, and hopefully bring some order to the patchwork perfusion of services that are covered in different regions of the country." Rock said Canadians were ready for a debate on what the system should cover, although at least one board member was less certain.

"Until we can get beyond the rhetoric we aren't going to get anywhere," said Dr. Rowland Nichol of the Alberta Medical Association. "The public needs to know that ideas are coming from the desire to improve the system and not just to advance political ends."

Rock also took the opportunity to apologize again for remarks reported in the media that implied that family physicians working 9-to-5 hours were the cause of emergency room backlogs during the flu season this winter. He said his remarks were oversimplified in the media report.

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© 2000 Canadian Medical Association