Health care

Bailout for people and communities, not oil and gas industry

Mar 26, 2020

Canada is in an economic tailspin due to the COVID-19 pandemic, echoing the worst months of the Great Depression. Yet while millions of Canadians need support to pay for basic necessities, a powerful group of oil company CEOs and lobbyists has insisted on a multi-billion dollar handout from the federal government, to be released any… View Article

What should be next for BC workers and families after the initial federal COVID-19 relief package?

Mar 19, 2020

By Iglika Ivanova

The federal government’s newly announced COVID-19 economic relief measures are a good start to aiding people and businesses whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the ongoing public health crisis. It was crucial for the federal government to act fast and provide reassurance to Canadians that help is on the way and more is coming, with… View Article

Our take on BC Budget 2020

Feb 18, 2020

By Iglika Ivanova and Alex Hemingway

BC Budget 2020 is light on new announcements. It largely marks the final year of implementation of the ambitious three-year plan set out back in 2018 to tackle some of our biggest social and economic challenges head on. The good news is that it delivers on key commitments made (and even ups the amounts slightly… View Article

BC needs to significantly boost supply of public assisted living

Feb 5, 2020

By Andrew Longhurst

Too many seniors in our province struggle to find publicly subsidized assisted living where they can be supported as they age. Amidst an affordable housing crisis felt across generations, the need to significantly boost the supply of subsidized assisted living is more urgent than ever before. Assisted living is a type of supportive housing for… View Article

Happy new year—no more MSP!

Jan 6, 2020

By Alex Hemingway

It’s a brand new year, and BC’s Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums are no more. That’s great news because MSP premiums were a very unfair tax (or “regressive” as we economists like to say). In its first budget (in 2018), the current provincial government announced it would phase out MSP premiums by 2020 and has… View Article

Virtual walk-in clinics undermine primary care

Dec 19, 2019

By Rita McCracken, Andrew Longhurst, Ruth Lavergne and Damien Contandriopoulos

Despite efforts by the BC government to increase access to primary care, new developments risk making it even harder to find a doctor. BC is one of the only provinces that allows doctors to bill government for virtual phone or video visits without restrictions. This may make it more convenient to see your regular doctor, however, a… View Article

Why are we letting corporate medicine take hold in Vancouver’s new urgent care centres?

May 23, 2019

By Alex Hemingway

The BC government has rolled out a flurry of impressive measures to strengthen our public health care system over the past two years. Flying below the radar, though, is a new effort by for-profit corporations to push their way into BC’s health care system — and the Vancouver Coastal Health authority seems to be waving… View Article

The importance of community health centres in BC’s primary care reforms: What the research tells us

Mar 1, 2019

By Andrew Longhurst and Marcy Cohen

Community health centres (CHCs) have been an effective but under-valued model for delivering primary health care1 for decades in Canada and the US. One of the unique features of the model is its strong focus on the social determinants of health and preventing acute illness among groups who are more likely to experience poor health and suffer from chronic conditions, including… View Article

Tackling poverty in BC: Celebrating how far we’ve come and looking ahead

Feb 5, 2019

By Trish Garner

As I flipped my calendar over to a new year, I thought about the work the current provincial government has done: 2018 was a year where many initiatives were introduced—initiatives that provide steps along the path to an accountable, bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan. This is something to celebrate. Given the depth of the… View Article

How (and how much) doctors are paid: why it matters

Jan 15, 2019