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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Canada could end up caught in the crossfire of a Trump trade war 

When Donald Trump rants against Mexico or China, he puts Canadian jobs at risk. Tuesday was particularly risky.

By tweet-slagging GM for selling Mexican-made cars into the U.S., as the president-elect did Tuesday, and by appointing Robert Lighthizer, a China-basher, as United States trade representative, Mr. Trump reinforces his determination to bring American manufacturing jobs home, even at the risk of launching a global trade war that could damage both the American and Canadian economies.

“It’s going to be a scary, scary ride,” predicts Gordon Ritchie, who was part of the Canadian team that negotiated the 1989 Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement. Canada, China and Mexico are the United States’s three biggest trading partners. If Mr. Trump riles up the other two, it can’t possibly be good for us.

Source: Canada could end up caught in the crossfire of a Trump trade war – The Globe and Mail

Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes

Canadian physicians are warning that thousands of specialists will pull out of group medical offices and many will ultimately leave for the United States because of new federal tax changes that will soon be approved by Parliament.

An aggressive lobbying campaign by doctors, radiologists and other medical professionals has failed to sway Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who is rejecting calls to remove a provision in the budget that doctors say will force them to pay tens of thousands more a year in taxes.

Source: Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes GLOBE AND MAIL

Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump

Donald Trump’s election to the presidency is really bad news for the federal Liberals. It is equally bad news for their provincial counterparts in Ontario and for the NDP wrecking-ball of a government in Alberta.Trump is not bad news because his victory has caused progressives’ hair to spontaneously combust (although that’s been fun to watch).  And his rattling of politically correct elites in the U.S. threatens to generate a spillover rattle in Canada.

Source: Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump | GUNTER | Columnists |

Donald Trump’s win ‘bad news for the auto industry,’ says David Dodge 

A former Bank of Canada governor says renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with president-elect Donald Trump will be dangerous for Canada’s automotive industry. Part of Trump’s win has been credited to voters in the rust belt — Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — where his anti–trade and protectionist promises played well with the electorate.And he’ll remain beholden to those voters if he wants to stay in power, says David Dodge

Source: Donald Trump’s win ‘bad news for the auto industry,’ says David Dodge – Politics – CBC News

How a Clinton or Trump presidency could affect Canada

Canada’s neighbour elects a new president Tuesday with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to take up residence in the White House. Each are proposing different agendas for the U.S. that pose questions, opportunities and challenges to cross-border relations.

Hillary Clinton

Connections: Clinton is a known quantity to Canadian officials from her time as a U.S. senator and secretary of state, which has also given her an understanding of Canada’s role in the world, says Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada: “Sometimes there’s too much focus on what we sell back and forth across the 49th parallel and not enough attention to the fact that Canada is quite engaged with the United States all over the world on issues and principles and values that we share. And she knows all of that, so she starts from a pretty strong foundation of engagement with Canada.”

Trade: Frustrations over the long-running dispute over softwood lumber could receive a boost with Clinton in the White House, as Giffin predicts Clinton would want to resolve the years-long impasse with a long-term agreement. Clinton is also likely to look for changes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership having expressed criticisms on the campaign trail to maintain support from Bernie Sanders backers. Canada is among the countries negotiating the agreement, and could use the opportunity to find changes for Clinton that help Canada and the United States. Another trade opportunity: Changes to the cross-border labour mobility rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement that Clinton may also be open to updating.

Source: http://www.cp24.com/news/how-a-clinton-or-trump-presidency-could-affect-canada-1.3148395

Detroit Home Health Owner To Serve 30 Years for $33 Million Scam

The owner of four Detroit area-based home health companies was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for a $33 million Medicare fraud scheme he played a role in.

Zafar Mehmood, owner of Access Care Home Care Inc., Patient Care Home Care Inc., Hands on Healing Home Care Inc. and All State Home Care Inc., was involved in a Medicare scam that took place from 2006 through 2011, according to the Department of Justice.

Mehmood was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering and two counts of obstruction of justice, court documents show.

Through this scheme, Mehmood obtained patients by paying cash kickbacks to recruiters, who then paid cash to patients to convince them to sign up for home health care with Mehmood’s companies. Mehmood also paid kickbacks to physicians to refer patients to his companies for unnecessary home health care services, the evidence in court showed.

Along with co-conspirators, Mehmood falsified records to make it appear that patients were qualified to receive certain services that Medicare paid over $33 million for during the six years the conspiracy took place.

Source: http://homehealthcarenews.com/2016/10/detroit-home-health-owner-to-serve-30-years-for-33-million-scam/

Trump campaign once again slams Canadian health care

The latest villain of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign: Canada’s health care system.

Trump’s Republican running mate, vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence, knocked the Canadian system during an appearance with Trump on Tuesday, following Trump’s inaccurate criticism in a radio interview last week.

Canada’s government insurance program has emerged as a late-campaign foil for the Trump campaign even though he has expressed strong support for it in the past. He has begun targeting Canada’s program as he has tried to turn public attention to problems with Obamacare, a much different program that involves government subsidies for insurance plans purchased from corporations.

Speaking in a hotel ballroom in an important suburb of Philadelphia, Pence, the governor of Indiana, falsely suggested that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is proposing a Canada-style “single-payer” system.

“She actually went to Canada and gave a speech that came out not too long ago,” he said. “She told Canadians and business groups that she wanted to get, and I’m quoting, ‘universal health care coverage like you have here in Canada.’ Well, we don’t want the socialized health care they have in Canada. We want American solutions.”

In that January 2015 speech, at Saskatoon’s Arts and Convention Centre, Clinton did not seem to be suggesting she wanted America to adopt Canada’s system. Rather, while defending Obamacare, she said she wanted all Americans insured.

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/11/01/trump-campaign-once-again-slams-canadian-health-care.html

Donald Trump said 35 false things on Tuesday, Oct. 25

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had a jam-packed day on Tuesday, Oct. 25. He did radio interviews with Rush Limbaugh, Herman Cain and a Cincinnati host, plus one with Reuters and one with Fox; made a brief speech at his Doral hotel in Florida; and held two rallies. And he said 35 false things, a day after tying a personal record with 37.

1.Falsely said federal authorities refused to detain an Ohio illegal immigrant who allegedly committed a murder three weeks later “even though they knew he was very dangerous.” (There is no evidence the Border Patrol or anyone else knew Juan Emmanuel Razo was dangerous; local police said he was sweating and seemed suspicious, but “no crimes were discovered (i.e. burglary, theft, vandalism), and subsequent data base inquiries showed no criminal history.”)

2.Falsely described Canadian health care: “You know, if you look at even Canada, the people come down. When they want an operation, they come to the United States to get the operation.” (It is very rare for Canadians to leave the country for any kind of healthcare. Even according to the conservative Fraser Institute, 99 per cent of patients stayed in Canada for care last year.)

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/10/26/donald-trump-said-35-false-things-on-tuesday-oct-25.html

Why the U.S Still Trails Many Wealthy Nations in Access to Care

Many are still unhappy with Obamacare.

The main intent of the Affordable Care Act was to expand the safety net (Medicaid), regulate the non- employer-based private insurance market (the insurance exchanges) and help people buy that insurance (subsidies) in order to reduce the number of Americans who are uninsured.

On those metrics, it appears to be succeeding.

First and foremost, Obamacare was about improving access to healthcare. While it did improve access to insurance, in many, many other ways the United States is falling short. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.

Even with Obamacare, the Unites States still ranks poorly among comparable countries in insurance coverage. Even in 2016, when the rate of insured is the best it has ever been in the United States, Americans still have a greater percent of the population uninsured than pretty much any other industrialized nation in the world.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/upshot/why-the-us-still-trails-many-wealthy-nations-in-access-to-care.html?_r=0

Thousands of Win/Win Policy Changes Are Being Ignored by Politicians, Says New Report

DALLAS, OCTOBER 18, 2016 – Imagine a government spending program that could be altered in a way that lowers the cost to the taxpayers and at the same time improves services for the beneficiaries. The change would literally make everyone better off.

Such opportunities are neither rare nor unusual according to a seasoned public policy analyst. They are ubiquitous.

“Opportunities to make everyone better off are everywhere in the public policy world,” says John Goodman, an economist who heads the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research. Goodman is often referred to as the “Father of Health Savings Accounts,” and is credited with being a source of other public policy ideas, including the Roth IRA. His latest report is published by the Independent Institute, a think tank in Oakland California.

As an example, Goodman points to the Veterans Administration policy on prescription drugs. Veterans who tire of waiting for an appointment with VA doctors often go to private doctors to get prescriptions. But before they can get the prescription filled at the VA (where the prices are much lower) they must get a second prescription from a VA doctor.

“Veterans are the only people in our society who must get two prescriptions in order to get access to discounts on drugs. If we dropped that silly rule and let veterans fill private doctor prescriptions at the VA, we could lower the time cost and the money cost of veteran health care. And since we wouldn’t need as many VA doctors, we could lower the cost to the taxpayers as well.”

Goodman gives other examples of potential win/win changes in federal programs:

  • Medicare should stop refusing to pay for phone and email doctor consultations, which are available from private services for a fraction of the cost of a doctor’s office visit.
  • Medicaid should allow patients to add cash to the government’s reimbursement rate and gain access to walk-in clinics, where typical prices are well below the cost (to Medicaid) of a doctor visit or emergency room care.
  • Medicare should start paying for Uber type doctor house calls (arrival within an hour at a cost of $100) instead of paying $500 for an emergency room visit at nights and on weekends.

“In each of these cases, a sensible change would improve access to care for the beneficiaries and lower the cost to the taxpayers at the same time,” he says.

You would think that politicians would jump at the chance to propose changes that make everybody happy and nobody mad. But apparently they don’t. Goodman says there are thousands of opportunities like these that are routinely ignored by politicians and government officials. Why is that?

“Washington is engulfed in two party warfare. If the two parties came together and did something that benefited everyone, the political base on each side would be suspicious. If your opponents aren’t screaming and yelling in opposition, the tendency is to think that your representatives aren’t doing their job,” he said.

Skeptics have suggested that Goodman may be too optimistic about the opportunities he envisions. After all, if you make it easier to get a prescription, people will get more of them, and that will increase the government’s cost. Similarly, if you make it easier to see a doctor, people will visit doctors more often. That may be good for the patient. But it could make the government’s cost higher as a result.

Goodman’s answer: trial and error and recalibration. For example, imagine we drop the requirement of a second prescription, but initially charged veterans with private prescriptions at the VA pharmacy a price that equal the private sector price. Then, start lowering that price.

As the price drops, more prescriptions would be filled and the cost to the government of filling them would rise. But as long as the price the veteran is paying is greater than the marginal increase in costs to the government, everyone is gaining.

“The VA needs to start thinking like a private business instead of a government bureaucracy, says Goodman. “Private companies don’t adopt policies and never change them for the next decade. They recalibrate what they’re doing all the time.”

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About Goodman Institute

Led by Dr. John C. Goodman, the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research (GIPPR), is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization that promotes private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes, and entitlements. Visit www.goodmaninstitute.org.

Source:  http://www.goodmaninstitute.org/thousands-of-winwin-policy-changes-are-being-ignored-by-politicians-says-new-report/