Health Care Needs a Revolution Drummond Couldn’t Offer – March 7, 2012
Amid the hubbub following the release of the Drummond Report, I can’t help but think of one of the biggest financial scams of the past century: Bernie Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme, which wiped out hundreds of formerly well-heeled investors. The lesson from Bernie? If something seems too good to be true then it probably is.

Saving Britain's Health Service – June 23, 2011
Today there is no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodic fits of panic about the National Health Service (NHS). Every decade or so the government tries to reform the NHS—and every decade or so the NHS masses its forces to work the public into a frenzy.

Europe's Failing Health – March 29, 2011
Traditional sources of funding health care in Europe have been branded obsolete and unaffordable. The need for innovation has never been stronger and while some countries, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland, are embracing change, others are resisting any significant overhaul. Indeed, the notion of free, state-backed health care is ingrained in the psyche of most Europeans.

Another Health System Coming Apart at Seams – January 31, 2011
"Some of the people here might have been better advised to see a family doctor – the mother whose daughter has a hacking cough or the man with the shooting pain in his leg, perhaps. But with severe shortages of doctors across the country, emergency wards have become the main recourse for millions of Canadians."

B.C. Set To Prescribe Health Contracts Pegged On Performance – October 4, 2010
"B.C. is launching its offensive against swelling health-care budgets, promising faster treatment for patients with a new pay-for-performance plan in its hospitals."

Competitive Care – May 4, 2010
"For the past 10 years, public and private hospitals in Lombardy have competed directly for patients, and in doing so have created what is considered by many to be one of Europe's most efficient health-care systems."

B.C.’s New Twist in Delivering Health Care – May 1, 2010
"Patient-focused funding may not drive massive savings in health-care costs, but could have a significant impact on the Canadian economy if it plays a role in reducing wait lists."

Health Insurance: Clear Diagnosis, Uncertain Remedy – February 28, 2010
"Governments want to spur private insurance in the hope of solving three big problems bedevilling their national systems of health care: inadequate access to care; soaring costs; and a paucity of innovation. They hope thus to improve their citizens’ health without tearing more holes in tattered public finances."

The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery – November 25, 2009
Dr. Shetty, who entered the limelight in the early 1990s as Mother Teresa's cardiac surgeon, offers cutting-edge medical care in India at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere in the world. The approach has transformed health care in India through a simple premise that works in other industries: economies of scale.

Obama Goes Postal – November 19, 2009
The U.S. Postal Service’s problems (not unlike the problems of Medicare and Medicaid) should provide clear warning that the costs of any government health insurance program will balloon, precisely because the government insurance program wouldn’t have to make a profit. No profit motive means no incentive to innovate, streamline and provide a quality product at a competitive price.

Getting More For Less In Health Care – October 26, 2009
Nadeem Esmail outlines viable healthcare policies that show a reduction in costs, but an increase in services. Worth a look from the National Post.

Private Health Care Slips Under Radar – August 4, 2009
Despite dire predictions, the decision (known commonly as the Chaoulli case), did not lead to the creation of a parallel private health-care system, nor to the end of medicare.

Europe's Free, State-Run Health Care Has Drawbacks – July 20, 2009
In Britain, France, Switzerland and elsewhere, public health systems have become political punching bags for opposition parties, costs have skyrocketed and in some cases, patients have needlessly suffered and died.

Obama's Foe A Canadian – July 9, 2009
The most dangerous part of Mr. Obama's plan is that a government-managed system would cripple private insurers by luring Americans into the Washington-run plan, Dr. Gratzer says. More worrisome, Dr. Gratzer says, the government would ultimately try to lower health-care costs by rationing care.

More Money Isn’t The Answer – April 27, 2009
This problem doesn’t need the Band-Aid of more money; it needs a fundamental re-think, which means embracing ideas like greater efforts at prevention (favoured by the left), better use of information technology (supported by the centre) — and, yes, user fees and greater competition (promoted by the right).

That French Remedy Still Works – March 3, 2009
What's interesting is that most Western European states have lived under socialist governments for long periods, while the Scandinavian countries have pioneered social democracy. Left-wing European leaders have never sought to outlaw private medicine, a fact that contradicts the prevalent view in Canada that allowing private clinics to co-exist with public institutions is a right-wing ploy.

Lessons From India In Organizational Innovation: A Tale Of Two Heart Hospitals – November 5, 2008
Recent discussions in health reform circles have pinned great hopes on the prospect of innovation as the solution to the high-cost, inadequate-quality U.S. health system. But U.S. health care institutions - insurers, providers, and specialists - have ceded leadership in innovation to Indian hospitals such as Care Hospital in Hyderabad and the Fortis Hospitals around New Delhi, which have U.S.-trained doctors and can perform open heart surgery for $6,000 (compared to $100,000 in the United States). The Indian success is a window into America's stalemate with inflating costs and stagnant innovation.

Free Market Reforms Transforming Health Care in the Netherlands – November 2, 2008
The Netherlands is the best example of Europe's move toward market-oriented reform. Before U.S. officials devote even more taxpayer dollars to health care, they should take a long look at how the Dutch have improved their health care system by reducing the government's role in it.

Top 10 Health Care Lessons From Britain – June 17, 2008
While Canadian governments maintain a system that leaves their citizens without proper access to care, in the past four years the English have introduced innovations and reforms that have achieved spectacular reductions in waiting lists.

Sick Swedish Kids Wait for Care, Spurring Parents to Go Private – January 29, 2008
While Swedish hospitals rank among the best in the world, the slow pace of care has led many wealthy residents to opt out of the government-funded medical system. That's creating tensions in a society where cradle-to-grave welfare programs have traditionally provided equal access to care for everyone.