Delivery Matters
The High Costs of For-Profit Health Services in Alberta
Using Calgary's Health Resources Centre as a case study, this report explores the delivery of clinical services, specifically total hip and knee replacements, through private, for-profit clinics, and compares their cost and impacts versus public delivery.
In Residential Long-term Care, Delivery Matters
Research shows direct link between for-profit ownership and lower quality
A new fact sheet released this morning by the U of A’s Parkland Institute points to a direct link between the ownership of residential long-term care facilities and the quality of service delivery.
Delivery Matters
The Impacts of For-profit Ownership in Long-term Care
Analysis comparing the US and Canadian research on the ownership and quality of services in these facilities concludes that for-profit facilities are less likely to provide quality care than nonprofit or public facilities.
The Bottom Line
The Truth Behind Private Health Care Insurance in Canada
The Bottom Line summarizes a huge body of evidence to get to the truth: private health insurance is more expensive and actually reduces access to health care. Evidence reveals that a manufactured cost crisis is driving the push for more private health insurance. This book examines the implications of the recent Supreme Court Chaoulli decision in Quebec, and offers vignettes of life before medicare. The Bottom Line concludes that the Alberta Conservative government is needlessly pursuing a US-style health system.
EPCOR
A Study of Ownership, Accountability, and the Public Interest
EPCOR is a unique organization, one with many contradictions. These contradictions raise the issue of EPCOR’s accountability. And at a time when the City of Edmonton is considering handing over its drainage system to EPCOR, consideration of accountability is urgent.
A Time to Reap
Reinvesting in Alberta's Public Services
The Alberta government often appears stuck in yesterday’s rhetoric of a debt crisis, too willing to engage in pitched battles with its civil servants, teachers, and nurses; disregarding of the needs of municipalities; and unresponsive to the plight of the poor and homelessness.
Unaccountable
The Case of Highway Maintenance Privatization in Alberta
In 1995/96, the Government of Alberta decided to outsource all the maintenance on its 15,000 km of primary highways to private contractors. In 1997, KPMG Consultants produced a study for the Government of Alberta with the intention of comparing the two systems. However, given that the system had been privatized for only one year they found that it was too early to compare the financial results of outsourcing highway maintenance to previous in-house methods.
Sobering Result
The Alberta Liquor Retailing Industry Ten Years After Privatization
In 1993/94 the Alberta Government implemented major policy changes involving the control, taxing, and distribution of liquor products. Ten years later the retail industry has evolved into monopolistic competition with its inherent excess capacity and high costs.
Public Bodies, Private Parts
Surgical Contracts and Conflict of Interest at the Calgary Regional Health Authority
In September 2000 The Health Care Protection Act (formerly Bill 11) was proclaimed and established as law in Alberta. Since the Act permits private, for-profit surgical facilities to keep patients for more than a 12-hour stay, it is only a matter of time before for-profit hospitals are approved and operating in Alberta. The first ones are likely to appear in Calgary.
Change and Opportunity
EPCOR in a Deregulated Electricity Industry
This study extends examines EPCOR’s standing in the throes of the deregulation of Alberta’s electricity industry. It finds that EPCOR provides remarkable value to the City of Edmonton, and despite unexpected shifts in regulatory positions by the Alberta government, this value is likely to hold in the medium and long term.