What Happened to Health-Care Reform?

Public concern about access and government concern about the unsustainable growth of spending have prompted a number of high-profile commissions on health reform. This commentary compares the recommendations of reports by four of those commissions: the final report of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (the Romanow report), the Senate report on the federal role in health care (the Kirby report), and reports of the Commission on Medicare in Saskatchewan (Fyke report) and the Alberta Premier's Advisory Council on Health (Mazankowski report). The comparison highlights areas of agreement & disagreement, focussing on four key issues: fiscal sustainability, coverage, delivery, and governance. Government responses to these reports are reviewed along with progress to date in implementing their recommendations. The commentary concludes with an evaluation of government efforts to reform the Canadian health care system.