SOMETIMES THE BARBARIANS ARE THE CONVERTERS:

Quebec's private health solution (ANDREW MILLS, SEAN GORDON AND ROB FERGUSON, Feb. 17, 2006, Toronto Star)

The government of Quebec wants to expand the role of private health care in areas where that will help fix the public system's biggest problems.

But the government has stopped far short of forging ahead with the two-tier health-care system feared by supporters of medicare.

Quebec's response to a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision last year that opened the way for private health insurance has been anxiously awaited around the country.

The proposals announced yesterday by Premier Jean Charest call for a three-pronged approach only for hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery, which have the longest waiting times.

If you've not seen it -- or even if you have -- this weekend's rental should be the exceptionally good, The Barbarian Invasions.

MORE:
More firms seek pension cuts (JAMES DAW, Feb. 17, 2006, Toronto Star)

Federal regulators are reporting a marked increase in companies asking for approval to cut pension plan benefits.

Nicholas Le Pan, superintendent of financial institutions, says his office has already approved a half-dozen requests, affecting 7,000 to 8,000 plan members. Reductions have been in the range of 10 per cent so far.

"In some cases, this option may be better for plan members than the alternative of plan terminations," he said yesterday in a speech to the Empire Club of Canada.

Le Pan estimates some three-quarters of pension plans do not have enough assets to support all benefits earned to date, largely due to low interest rates and longer life spans. "Our watch list is rising and we expect it to rise further," he said.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 17, 2006 8:09 AM