Romanow calls for expansion of medicare, and adequate, stable funding.

OTTAWA -- Saying that privatizing Canada's health care system is not a new solution but one that Canadians rejected 40 years ago, Roy Romanow recommends expansion of Canada's single payer health care in his report, Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada. (To link to the full report go to our www.communityaction.ca)

Report highlights also include:

* a Canadian Health Covenant to express Canadians' collective vision for health care and updating the Canada Health Act;

* a Rural and Remote Access Fund ($1.5B total over 2 years): to improve timely access to care in rural and remote areas;

* A Diagnostic Services Fund ($1.5B total over 2 years): to improve wait times for diagnostic services;

* A Primary Health Care Transfer ($2.5B total over 2 years): toward renewing primary care delivery;

* A Home Care Transfer ($2B total over 2 years): to provide a foundation for an eventual national homecare strategy;

* A Catastrophic Drug Transfer ($1B beginning in FY 2004/5): to protect Canadians in instances where they require expensive drug therapies to remain healthy.

Provincial governments welcomed proposals to provide "adequate, stable and predictable funding" by:

* Setting a federal cash funding floor of 25% of the cost of insured health services under the Canada Health Act raising federal funding by 2005/2006. That would increase federal funding for health care $6.5 billion above currently forecast levels;

* establishing a dedicated, cash-only, 5-year Canada Health Transfer that includes a built-in escalator provision.

The provincial governments have reservations about proposals for a new Health Council of Canada to foster collaboration among governments, providers and citizens which would play a large role in setting federal provincial cost sharing and goals, seeing it as a potential intrusion on provincial powers.

Their strongest reservation concerns proposals for "targeting" which they believe could make them accountable to the federal government. The Quebec National Assembly unanimously voted to reject any funds that come with conditions.

Romanow said his recommendations are based "on an objective and rigorous assessment of all of the available evidence" and that they "faithfully reflect the values Canadians want expressed in policies and programs that define their health care system."

Romanow proposes a more comprehensive system by:

* integrating priority home care services (home mental health case management and intervention services; post-acute home care, and palliative home care) within the Canada Health Act, as well as improving prescription drug coverage;

* Improving timely access to quality care for all Canadians through special initiatives to improve waitlist management, by removing obstacles to primary care reform, and by increasing the supply of advanced diagnostic services and of health care providers across Canada;

* Encouraging a national personal electronic health record system and protecting the security and privacy of Canadians' personal health information through amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada.

The Commission's report also addresses, among others, such diverse issues as: Aboriginal health care, culturally sensitive access, the impact of globalization, and applied research.