Friends of Medicare launches major media
campaign to highlight threat 
to public health care

By Gil McGowan, AFL Staff

The group Friends of Medicare has launched a province-wide information campaign aimed at rallying public opposition to the Alberta government’s latest plans for health care reform.

During the last week of April and the first week of May, Friends of Medicare will be running television and radio ads on a number of stations in Edmonton and Calgary. In addition, leaflets will be mailed to more than 430,000 homes in the two cities.

The province-wide print and broadcast campaign will be supplemented by information on the Friends’ website, located at www.keepmedicarepublic.ca.

"We’ve decided to launch this campaign because Medicare is in danger," said Christine Burdett, provincial chair of Friends of Medicare, who unveiled the ads and the leaflet at a news conference in Calgary.

Burdett said the campaign is designed to draw attention to a number of dangerous proposals for health reform put forward by the controversial Mazankowski commission and currently being considered by the government.

In particular, the TV and radio ads focus on the government’s plan to limit Medicare coverage through the introduction of things like Medicare savings accounts and their plan to "privatize Medicare from within" by hiring private companies to run hospitals and deliver core medical services.

"The government has done a masterful job of soft-selling their agenda and distracting people from what’s really going on," said Burdett. "But, the reality is that … the government’s new plan for health care is not about protecting Medicare. It’s about making patients pay more; it’s about privatizing the delivery of care; and it’s about opening the door for business."

Burdett said the Friends of Medicare campaign is also designed to refute the "big lie" that Medicare is no longer sustainable.

"Health care costs in Alberta are not out of control. In fact, as a percentage of our provincial economy, we currently spend less than any other province on health care and less than we did ten years ago. So the question is: if there really is no crisis, why should Albertans support the radical proposals being put forward by the government?"

Burdett hopes the latest Friends of Medicare information campaign will "give Albertans a jolt" and help them understand how dangerous some of the government’s plans for reform really are.

"The government’s reforms will lead to a system in which Albertans are only partially covered by the public system," says Burdett. "The question then becomes: will Alberta families be able to afford the health care they need? We think that many of them will not. In fact, we think we’ll end up with a two tier-system where some people can afford supplementary insurance – but a majority will be forced to rely exclusively on a shrunken public system. That’s why we’re raising the alarm."

Burdett concluded the news conference by saying there is still time to stop the government from implementing the most dangerous parts of its plan for health reform.

"The reality is that the government is still meeting to finalize its health policy – and they’re not scheduled to report until next fall. That means Albertans have at least three or four months to speak out. We’re convinced the government will change direction if they get enough calls, letters and e-mails from concerned Albertans … it’s not too late to save Medicare."