Social policy module 10 topics and concepts

Social Policy

What is the impact on women of health care privatization and downloading?

Pat Armstrong in Chapter Thirteen makes the case for the advantages women had with the Medicare system in tact; healthcare in Canada has been what Armstrong calls "…a shining example of a universal program that has worked to reduce inequalities" in terms of access to care for women (Armstrong, 333). In fact, not only did the Medicare system provide women with excellent access to care, four of five healthcare workers are female, so the system also provides employment for women. But Armstrong (p. 334) reports that "fundamental transformations" in the healthcare system are occurring, which has the effect of "undermining both women's access to care and women's work in care" -- and that is privatization.

Privatization and downloading alludes to policy changes that basically take the public aspect out of healthcare delivery and make it a private enterprise. Some of the ramifications of taking healthcare services out of the public sphere and making it private include: a) the burden of paying for services is shifted from government to individuals; b) healthcare service centers are being run by for-profit companies; c) care for women is now out of the purview of public institutions into for-profit community organizations and "private households"; d) the strategies in terms of delivering healthcare services are now based on private sector concepts; e) the actual work of providing care to women moves from public sector healthcare workers to "unpaid caregivers"; and f) healthcare now is a commodity, with market rules applying, rather than an important human service the government cares enough to provide (Armstrong, 334).

The bottom line in terms of the impact on women is that "privatization by stealth" has meant that caregivers face "deteriorating conditions for work," and the fact that most giving and receiving care are women, means "women are losing the most" (Armstrong, 353).

Bach and Rioux use the phrase "Back to notions of the worthy poor…" to point out that at one time -- before child labour laws and child welfare legislation came into the picture -- disabled people were not necessarily considered "worthy" of aid from the government. With the advent of new policies bringing privatization -- and de-institutionalization -- programs on board, Bach and Rioux suggest that chances for disabled persons to be self-sufficient and earn their own way have diminished significantly (Module 10).

Meantime the proposal for a "guaranteed annual income" (GAI) for disabled persons was floated as "trial balloon" perhaps to see how the public reacted and to show the government was actually concerned about disabled people. But the Minister of Human Resource Development (Lloyd Axworthy) decided it was "too expensive" so the proposal died -- through neglect.

Canada's policy on illegal drugs has been racialized due to the way in which Canadian authorities labeled those with addiction problems as "foreigners" (Module 10). When the word "foreigners" is used, according to Hicks and Petrunik, it suggests "Chinese people" -- and the problem of drug addiction has created "institutionalization leading to abuse and isolation" and has given police departments huge new powers to search without legal justification.