Thursday, October 13, 2011

Spend Spend Spend

The NDP promises a suite of Health care goodies, including opening a bunch of "community health clinics" across the province and staffing them with nurses and nurse practitioners.  They also promise "access" to dental care for kids between 5 to 12.

The SaskParty's announcement was to extend the Active Families benefit to 18 year olds from it's existing 16(ish) and also to extend the PST exemption on clothing to the same.

The Sask Party's proposal is very affordable, and simplifies life in that I don't have to try to remember the different ages when things kick in or kick out.  The NDP's proposal is attempting to reverse cuts that were made in the past, but only half-assing it.  It would appear that the NDP are proposing to bring back the in school dentist in elementary school - a proposal that Devine cut in the mid 80s.  It would also appear that the NDP is trying to reverse all their rural hospital closures from the 90s, an austerity measure at the time.  All I know is that the NDP proposals are going to add some serious money to the health care budget of the province in order to make sure that there is a "hospital" accessible to everyone.  The problem is that in 20 years, we'll be complaining that there aren't enough Nurse Practitioners that want to practice in rural Saskatchewan, and the cycle will perpetuate itself.

Kudos to the NDP for putting forth a proposal to solve a problem though.

Winners: Health Care Bureaucracy, Unions
Losers: Taxpayers that actually have to fund the NDPs proposal.

2 comments:

  1. the "Community Health Centres" sounds exactly like Alberta Premier Alison Redford's plan to create "Family Care Clinics". Nice to know that the SK NDP Can't come up with an original idea of their own.

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  2. I don't know who came up with it first. All I know is that it's going to add expense to an already enormous health care budget.

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