Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse
FRAUD, abuse and errors in government programs had a cost of $136.7 billion in 2015, according to the Government Accountability Office.
In a nation where $2.8 trillion in annual assistance is paid out, that 95.6 percent accuracy rate is not good enough.
A crackdown is long overdue, and some states are showing how to address the problem.
Read more at whig.com
A new report reveals that low-income working Canadians with disabilities are facing tax rates of over 100% and advocates say that has to change.
The alarming report from the Library of Parliament shows that federal and provincial taxes combined with various benefit clawbacks make many working disabled taxpayers worse off for working longer hours, getting raises or in some cases even working in the first place.
It’s an issue that disability advocates have long known about, but this marks the first time it’s been formally tabulated by the government.
read more at cnews.canoe.com
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin has joined the attorneys general of 37 states and the District of Columbia to widen their authority in the investigation of Medicaid fraud.
The National Association of Attorneys General is urging the federal government to change its policy, so state attorneys general can use federal funds to investigate and prosecute a wider range of Medicaid abuse and neglect cases. The letter was sent to Tom Price, secretary of health and human services.
read more at bizjournals.com
Since Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberals embarked on testy negotiations with the provinces over health transfers for the next decade, Canadians have seen the re-emergence of a persistent public-policy issue: runaway medical expenses.
Those expenses now soak up more than 70 per cent of some provincial budgets, and Ottawa’s initial proposal — another 3.5 per cent a year — is widely seen as inadequate. The provinces feel — even with an added $11 billion the feds say they would spend on mental health and home care over the coming decade — that is simply not enough for a population that is both aging and ailing. Almost four in 10 Canadians over the age of 20 report that they suffer from at least one of 10 major chronic conditions.
But in the face of overstretched budgets, there are now other options, many of which represent the long-sought shift to prevention from cure. A growing number of entrepreneurs have recognized that with the assistance of cutting-edge technology, employers can play a role in reducing stress on the health-care system by helping their employees fend off illness.
read more at thestar.com
Each year, at least one million unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures are done in Canadian health-care settings. This means hundreds of thousands of Canadians are exposed to potential harm by unnecessary care.
Unnecessary care could be a prescription drug, a diagnostic test or a medical procedure that doesn’t improve a patient’s health outcomes and isn’t backed by the best available evidence. It may also involve risks and harmful side-effects.
In other words, this medical care offers no value to patients and strains resources.
A recent report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, in partnership with Choosing Wisely Canada, demonstrates how pervasive unnecessary care is across the country and highlights several key examples where changes could benefit patients and the health system.
read more at winnipegfreepress.com
Each year, there are at least one million unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures done in Canadian health care settings. This means that hundreds of thousands of Canadians are exposed to potential harm by unnecessary care.
What constitutes ‘unnecessary care’?
Unnecessary care could be a prescription drug, a diagnostic test or a medical procedure that does not improve a patient’s health outcomes and is not backed by the best available evidence. It may also involve risks and harmful side-effects.
In other words, this is medical care that offers no value to patients and strains health care resources.
Last month, we covered fraud in the healthcare system. Our next article will be zeroing in on the biggest hankerer for those healthcare funds – Mental Health.
A few years ago, I was walking down Bay Street in December with my wife. It was the Friday evening before Christmas and the street was bustling with shoppers. As we rushed, shopping bags in hand, to get to our last store before closing, a well-dressed man with an accent approached us.
He explained (and I’m keeping this much more concise here) that he and his family had driven from the US through Toronto to make it home to Montreal for Christmas. His car had broken down on the Gardiner and he put them up in a hotel. He found out his car repair would be too much, so he needed $200 to get his family on a bus. After the long-winded story, my wife started speaking with him in French and, being the most warm-hearted person I know, reached into her purse.
I gave her a look to slow her down. Being a frugal skeptic (overall jerk, in her words), I asked a few simple questions. Why did he decide to come via Toronto? Why didn’t he take the 401? Who is the mechanic he brought his car to? Where is his family now?
With a bit of prodding, he scurried away, looking for his next victim. My wife was a bit angry with me for not allowing her to help him and for being so cold with him. We left it at that and didn’t speak of it again.
The following year, we happened to be Christmas shopping downtown again. And who pops out of the crowd speaking to another young couple. My wife forgave me after that.
One thing that I admire in that man was that he had a good story and great delivery. Very convincing. His story was one that makes the heart bleed and the money come forth. Top notch business model. He could’ve been working his hands to the bone for $20 an hour or he could spend his hour with 4 different couples and 2 of them would spring for his $200 story.
What does this have to do with mental health spending you ask? Well, mental health IS an issue (just as would be families stranded on a cold December night). But you and I and every taxpayer are the dupes in this one.
In researching this, I waded through more doublespeak than can even be conceived. I sat down and started making a diagram of the direction of funds in the marketing, lobbying, advertising, advocating, associations, fundraising activities and the like. It is like drawing a rat’s nest to try and track it all. We’re definitely not conspiracy theorists here, but one group stands out as the major promoter and biggest beneficiary of the popularization of Mental Health and Mental Health funding…
Like I admired the con man, I marvel at the business model of the psychopharmaceutical industry. It’s a great return on investment. Being somewhat of a capitalist, I should probably jump in on it and pick up some stock. Alas, my moral fibre would never allow it. Nor would my wife.
It’s hard to believe the opinion of a single lawyer is holding up the release of a crucially important provincial task force report that shines a spotlight on the sexual abuse of patients by doctors and recommends ways to better protect the public. But it’s true.
The report, paid for with public funds after public hearings, has been gathering dust at Queen’s Park since March after lawyer Douglas Harrison of Stikeman Elliott found it to be defamatory, though other lawyers consulted by the province did not raise that concern.
Harrison said it “impugns all of the health profession colleges in Ontario, taking a broad-brush approach to accuse all of them of . . . turning a blind eye to sexual abuse and failing to appropriately discipline professionals.”
Source: Release task force report on sexual assaults by doctors: Editorial | Toronto Star
The Ontario Medical Association is seeking to overturn a landmark decision by the province’s privacy commissioner to release the names of top-billing doctors.
In addition, a group of about 40 doctors and one physician acting alone who are on the list have made separate applications for a judicial review of an order from the privacy commissioner to release to the Toronto Star the identities of the top 100 billers.
The three parties filed applications this week with the province’s divisional court to quash the ruling made June 1 by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
Source: Ontario doctors challenge ruling that would identify top OHIP billers | Toronto Star
The province’s privacy commission has ordered the health ministry to release the names of doctors along with their OHIP billings, in the interests of transparency and accountability.
The decision comes two years after the Star began requesting physician-identified billings from the health ministry, and brings the province more in line with other jurisdictions that are opting to disclose public funds paid to doctors.
In granting an appeal from the Toronto Star, John Higgins, an adjudicator with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, said physician-identified billings are not “personal information” and are, therefore, not exempt from disclosure under the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Source: Health ministry ordered to disclose names on OHIP billings | Toronto Star