Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by Izzle

Haha... Alberta gonna Alberta

https://globalnews.ca/news/10316372/...armacare-plan/

If Alberta asks for the per capita funding in cash, I hope the federal govt tells them to shove it.

Good grief, what a f'n disaster this government is. Just pure insanity.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Have you ever looked at Blue Cross coverage? It's horse ####, and not worth paying for if you have any health issues at all. $1500 yearly drug limit and $25 co-pays per prescription for $118 a month premiums for 2 people. There is a reason people are clamoring for a national Pharmacare plan, and it sure isn't because Blue Cross is awesome.


EDITED to correct monthly cost.

Can you provide a link to the $1500 yearly drug limit? I couldn't find any reference to it on the government page.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Can you provide a link to the $1500 yearly drug limit? I couldn't find any reference to it on the government page.

https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/plans/personal/index.php

I was looking at the first plan, but perhaps it doesn't apply to non-group coverage? There isn't much info on the non-group plan, and I had a lot of trouble finding anything.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/plans/personal/index.php

I was looking at the first plan, but perhaps it doesn't apply to non-group coverage? There isn't much info on the non-group plan, and I had a lot of trouble finding anything.

It doesn’t apply to non-group coverage, but there is a deductible for every prescription. When I retired I needed to find a plan that would cover my family’s substantial drug habit (one of my son’s was $1000 a pop), and the non-group plan was the only good option I found.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Spend $70 million + on dicey Turkish Tylenol that no one ended up using. Say no to formalized national pharmacare plan for contraception and diabetes drugs that could help thousands of Albertans - especially without insurance - because it is a lefty idea.

Winning must be so tiring.

Am I the only one who thinks the dicey Turkish tylonal was the correct policy decision. You had a potentially acute crisis so you take all available measure to solve because you need one of them to work. Had other initiatives failed the Turkish Tylenol would have been needed.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by GGG

Am I the only one who thinks the dicey Turkish tylonal was the correct policy decision. You had a potentially acute crisis so you take all available measure to solve because you need one of them to work. Had other initiatives failed the Turkish Tylenol would have been needed.

No, they've since proven that the Acetaminophen that was acquired was improperly mixed dosage wise for youth use and could have had negative effects on children if given improperly.

Is the idea sound? It implies a severe distrust and frankly disrespect to the regular procurement channels- if the stuff was safe for use and usable, why wouldn't the regular channels have acquired it? In that sense, it was always about political grandstanding and trying to show that the federal government apparatus was weak. It backfired as good reasons why the products from this producer weren't readily available in market were revealed.

[Fuzz]

It also became very clear why no one else was doing it. I expect a functioning government to come to the same conclusion every other jurisdiction did. Were they the smartest people in the room, or dumbest? Hindsight can illuminate that one.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by GGG

Am I the only one who thinks the dicey Turkish tylonal was the correct policy decision. You had a potentially acute crisis so you take all available measure to solve because you need one of them to work. Had other initiatives failed the Turkish Tylenol would have been needed.

In hindsight no, but at the time I think you could argue that it was a decent decision. There was immense pressure from the population for the government to 'do something'. So they did. Turns out it was not a great decision but what did any of the other Provinces do? Did any of them even source anything or just wait for the problem to pass?

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by GGG

Am I the only one who thinks the dicey Turkish tylonal was the correct policy decision. You had a potentially acute crisis so you take all available measure to solve because you need one of them to work. Had other initiatives failed the Turkish Tylenol would have been needed.

IIRC by the time they fully pulled the trigger on it the regular market solution was already starting to replenish shelves (albeit slowly).

One thing I was surprised to learn is that it can be safe enough to split/crush adult pills for most kids (but probably not infants) - so the better option IMO would have been an education campaign on that and encouraging people to save the limited supply for infants

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by GGG

Am I the only one who thinks the dicey Turkish tylonal was the correct policy decision. You had a potentially acute crisis so you take all available measure to solve because you need one of them to work. Had other initiatives failed the Turkish Tylenol would have been needed.

Good intentions, but clearly they didn’t work through the details or the timelines involved. It came across as a knee-jerk decision without proper due diligence.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

IIRC by the time they fully pulled the trigger on it the regular market solution was already starting to replenish shelves (albeit slowly).

One thing I was surprised to learn is that it can be safe enough to split/crush adult pills for most kids (but probably not infants) - so the better option IMO would have been an education campaign on that and encouraging people to save the limited supply for infants

How is educating the public on how to cut adult Tylenol into child dosages any different than educating the public on how to read the dosage guidelines on Turkish Tylenol?

Maybe I'm too cautious as a parent or my brain just isn't capable of remembering particulars very well but whenever I grab any sort of medicine for my kids I always read the dosage amount even if I had just given it to them earlier in the day.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

How is educating the public on how to cut adult Tylenol into child dosages any different than educating the public on how to read the dosage guidelines on Turkish Tylenol?

Maybe I'm too cautious as a parent or my brain just isn't capable of remembering particulars very well but whenever I grab any sort of medicine for my kids I always read the dosage amount even if I had just given it to them earlier in the day.

Educating the public could be rolled out quickly as opposed to waiting 6-8 months for a shipment that is incorrect and requires an education to be used safely.
Adult doses were cut for children long before children’s dosages were marketed, no need to educate the boomers.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

How is educating the public on how to cut adult Tylenol into child dosages any different than educating the public on how to read the dosage guidelines on Turkish Tylenol?

Maybe I'm too cautious as a parent or my brain just isn't capable of remembering particulars very well but whenever I grab any sort of medicine for my kids I always read the dosage amount even if I had just given it to them earlier in the day.

It's immediate, and nearly free (depending on how much you want to market it). But really it's just about the health authority for a jurisdiction giving the official green light to do something that gets mixed results on a google search.

[Faust]

Braid: Parker's ugly attack on Nenshi, and the politics of personal insult

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/co...ersonal-insult

Braid: Now TBA's Parker insults Poilievre. Will Premier Smith ever disown him?

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/co...e-smith-disown

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

How is educating the public on how to cut adult Tylenol into child dosages any different than educating the public on how to read the dosage guidelines on Turkish Tylenol?

Maybe I'm too cautious as a parent or my brain just isn't capable of remembering particulars very well but whenever I grab any sort of medicine for my kids I always read the dosage amount even if I had just given it to them earlier in the day.

I mean, figuring out what percentage of an adult dose you need to give to get the correct number of milligrams of active ingredients for the children's dose is basic fractions. It isn't hard at all. I did give my kids adult Tylenol when we couldn't get children's, but I would have preferred a non-standard liquid dosage because it is easier for them to take.

Maybe most people are so terrible at fractions this is a bad plan?

I sort of looked at it like the Feds ordering huge supplies of every covid vaccine - we ended up not needing a bunch of it but the option value was high.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

In hindsight no, but at the time I think you could argue that it was a decent decision. There was immense pressure from the population for the government to 'do something'. So they did. Turns out it was not a great decision but what did any of the other Provinces do? Did any of them even source anything or just wait for the problem to pass?

It was widely panned as a terrible decision at the time by most people healthcare though. At least that's how I remember it.

If any other political party did that people would be all over them for it..

[GGG]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

It was widely panned as a terrible decision at the time by most people healthcare though. At least that's how I remember it.

If any other political party did that people would be all over them for it..

I think people play the results rather than the the basis of the decision. It’s funny it keeps coming back up as a criticism when there are so many better things to criticize them for wasting money on like say privatizing and then going public with lab services.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I mean, figuring out what percentage of an adult dose you need to give to get the correct number of milligrams of active ingredients for the children's dose is basic fractions. It isn't hard at all. I did give my kids adult Tylenol when we couldn't get children's, but I would have preferred a non-standard liquid dosage because it is easier for them to take.

Maybe most people are so terrible at fractions this is a bad plan?

I sort of looked at it like the Feds ordering huge supplies of every covid vaccine - we ended up not needing a bunch of it but the option value was high.

Spoiler!

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Spoiler!

Lol. I honestly have a hard time imagining that, and yet it seems to be a real thing...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Spoiler!

Ugh...just end us now. End humanity. Its over...we had a good run.