Health Care Reform & Drummond Poll Report


KEY FINDINGS

March 9, 2012: When presented with health care savings recommendations from the Drummond Report on Provincial Spending, members favour those dealing with drug pricing, home care and palliative care and capping hospital CEO salaries.

Members are less enthusiastic about capping health care funding increases at 2.5% per year or with making family doctors go on partial fee-for-service payment rather than salaries.

Members agree that, if drug benefits were means tested, a household income limit between $67,000 and $100,000 a year would be appropriate.

While two thirds of members agree with the conclusions of the Drummond Report, as many as 8-in-10 say it is applicable to their own province.

When members are asked to specifically consider the proposed 2.5% annual funding increase cap, half approve, because costs need to be reined in. About a third are not comfortable, mostly because they see this as a de facto funding cut.

The health care delivery outcomes members would least like to se as a result of Drummond-style reforms are the regionalization of local services, PSWs taking on medical duties and fewer treatments and drugs being covered.

More than one half of members say the health care in their province is “excellent” or “very good”, and very few say it is “poor”.

The Conservatives have recovered some of the ground lost to the Liberals over the OAS fray since the last wave of polling two weeks ago, but the Liberals are now firmly in second place among our members, just behind the Conservatives.

To view a copy of the full report complete with Charts and Graphs, please click here