4-minute read
Health monopoly shuts out entrepreneurs
The potential of entrepreneurial initiatives in health care.
1-minute read
Health Care Entrepreneurship: Overcoming the Obstacles
For the past fifteen years, increases in health care spending have outpaced the growth of the Canadian economy. As a result, this spending takes up an increasing share of government budgets. The share of provincial and territorial program spending taken up by health care expenditures reached 37.7% in 2010. Not all sources of increased spending should be viewed as problems, of course. New medical technologies, for instance, even if sometimes quite expensive, can provide valuable services, and perhaps reduce other costs.
3-minute read
Harcèlement alimentaire
Taxing junk food to prevent and fight obesity.
1-minute read
Viewpoint on the pharmaceutical industry’s promotional spending
The promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies are regularly the target of criticism. Certain commentators imply that these businesses as a group devote too many resources to the promotion of their products, at the expense of their investments in research and development (R&D). Others maintain that these promotional activities alter the prescribing habits of doctors, which leads to a needless or even harmful rise in the consumption of drugs. Do these criticisms stand up to scrutiny?
5-minute read
Will a Junk Food Tax Work in Canada?
Obesity: A new tax won't change our eating habits.
3-minute read
L’ivresse du pouvoir
Emergency rooms overcrowding.
1-minute read
The Influence of Advertising on Consumption
In many countries around the world, governments are increasingly tempted to regulate the advertising industry. Whether in the name of consumer protection or health concerns, advertising for products that are perfectly legal must conform to ever stricter rules. Think of alcohol, tobacco or fast food, for example. This worldwide trend was recently highlighted by the head of planning for a well respected ad agency in the British newsweekly The Observer.
1-minute read
Quebec’s Occupational Health and Safety Plan: Fewer Accidents, Higher Costs
The purpose of Quebec's Occupational Health and Safety Plan is to prevent industrial accidents and occupational diseases and to compensate the victims of such hazards. Strangely, while the number of these accidents and occupational diseases is dropping, the costs of compensation continue to rise, increasing the $2.55-billion annual bill entirely paid for by employers. This program alone represents the equivalent of 65% of corporate taxes paid in Quebec.
3-minute read
Pharmacare: Don’t swallow that snake oil!
A new study proposes the federal imposition of “a national, universal drug plan providing first-dollar coverage.”
5-minute read
Une innovation qui se fait attendre
Publication of an Economic Note on the improvement of the efficiency of Quebec’s health care system.