Friends of Medicare

A parallel private-pay system will worsen access to publicly funded surgery Key points The government of Alberta recently announced legislative changes allowing patients to self-refer and pay out of pocket for diagnostic and testing services covered by publicly funded health ...

A parallel private-pay system will worsen access to publicly funded surgery /via @cmaj.ca

www.cmaj.ca/content/198/...

Promotional graphic for a live educational event titled “Learn to Advocate.” The design features a dominant purple background with bold white and contrasting text. Headshots of MLA Marie Renaud, disability advocate Zachary Weeks, and Michelle Kristinson from the Alberta Ability Network appear side by side. The text promotes a session focused on how to advocate against cuts to disability services in Alberta. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4 at 6:30 PM and will be streamed on YouTube Live with ASL interpretation included.

EVENT INVITE 📢: Join me, @marierenaud.bsky.social and Michelle Kristinson for a live session on practical advocacy tools you can use right now.

March 4 • 6:30 PM • YouTube Live

Register: stan.store/zacharyweeks

#Alberta #YEG #YYC #DisabilityRights

Our public health care is in crisis. We need targeted funding to improve capacity & ensure patients can access the care they need.

Instead, the Alberta government keeps funneling money into chaotic restructuring & private profits, while trying to sell it to us as a win for health care.

So the UCP spends $81M (at least!) to dismantle our centralized health care system, then another $2.3 BILLION to establish yet another agency to re-centralize it?

So much for fiscal responsibility!

Watch FOM's Chris Gallaway on yesterday's CTV News: www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/vid...

AMA statement regarding Alberta Budget 2026.
Sustaining access to care requires funding that keeps pace, year over year, with population growth, increasing patient complexity and the real costs of delivering care. www.albertadoctors.org/news/news/am...

This government's budget is like trying to use a bandaid to stop the bleeding after years of cuts to our health care.

Instead of funding what patients actually need, they're funneling more & more money into the pockets of for-profit health care providers & their shareholders.

The Alberta 2026 budget fails to meet the needs of Albertans. It puts vulnerable Albertans in danger and will delay essential public services Albertans rely on.

It’s about capacity! UNA responds to provincial budget. The public health care system needs to be strengthened so Alberta nurses and health care workers can deliver the best patient care possible to Albertans. That means increasing capacity so we have enou...

The public health care system needs to be strengthened so Alberta nurses and health care workers can deliver the best patient care possible to Albertans. That means increasing capacity so we have enough staff, space and resources for Albertans to access health care when and where they need it.

Blue filtered photo of the Alberta Legislature building. Text reads, "Budget Continues Agenda of Health Care Destruction & Privatization. Read FOM's response: friendsofmedicare.org/news"

In Budget 2026, FOM was watching for key investments in public health care to address the crisis in our system.

Instead, saw a continued roll out of the government’s expensive, chaotic restructuring, while doubling-down on their failing privatization schemes.

www.friendsofmedicare.org/budget2026

It's Alberta's provincial budget day!

That means you're going to hear a bunch of numbers & rhetoric from the AB government on health care today.

But if you want to know what it actually means for your actual health care? Listen to the professionals, not the politicians. 🧵👇

Alberta promises record funding for doctors as front line physicians question impact Alberta’s government is promising a record investment in physicians in its upcoming budget, a move that comes as the province’s health-care system continues to face significant strain.

Read/watch the full story: www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...

Stay tuned for FOM's response to today's Alberta budget later this afternoon.

'Record registrations' sounds great, but where are these doctors?? Are they where Albertans need them? Are they even working in AB?

Alberta is in a CHRONIC short staffing crisis & patients increasingly can't access care. We don't just need funding, we need a real workforce plan.

Since when does 'synchronizing' = cuts?

"We know this will lead to more pressure on our ERs. But it will also create more gaps in cancer care, more stress for patients ... Every program that we can do that keeps someone out of an emergency waiting room we should be doing right now": Chris Gallaway.

Green-filtered photo of Chapter members at founding meeting. Text reads: "St. Albert-Sturgeon Community Members Launch Newest Friends of Medicare Chapter. Read more from FOM: friendsofmedicare.org/news"

Big news: Friends of Medicare has a brand new chapter!

St. Albert & Sturgeon County residents have come together to organize & advocate for the protection & expansion of public health care in their community and beyond.

Read more & get involved:
www.friendsofmedicare.org/stalbert_stu...

"That’s really how we’ll win this, is people in communities talking to other people in other communities & really pushing for that change ... we can protect public healthcare & services in communities like Vegreville"

www.myvegrevillenow.com/16302/news/m...

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🏥 More than 400 Edmontonians joined ER physician Dr. Paul Parks and @friendsofmedicare.bsky.social for an urgent discussion about public health care. Dozens of Alberta nurses who shared their stories about what’s happening on the frontlines of the public health care system.

We’ve connected with THOUSANDS of Albertans.. and we’re gonna keep going.

No one thinks that HC is going in the right direction in AB right now…

We need more people talking about HC and getting involved.

Everyone in this province deserves timely access to quality public health care, not just those who can afford to pay for it.

It's time to let this government know that Albertans value our public health care—& we're willing to fight for it!

🚨 TAKE ACTION 🚨 friendsofmedicare.org/notwotier

More than 400 people showed up in Edmonton today on our cross-province tour with @pfparks.bsky.social!

The THOUSANDS of Albertans we've talked to at our townhalls these past few months have been resoundingly clear: we don't want two tier, Americanized health care!

We need to repeal Bill 11 ASAP.

FOM Chris Gallaway at the microphone, next to him emergency room doc Paul Parks, in a room with hundreds of Albertans concerned about healthcare in AB.

“We are in sudden death overtime with American-style private healthcare” @cgallaway.bsky.social at the @friendsofmedicare.bsky.social town hall on the healthcare crisis in #AB

Hundreds of Edmonton-area folks have already RSVPd to our townhall today... Are you one of them??

We've talked with thousands of people about health care on this tour. Help make today our biggest stop yet!

Join FOM & @pfparks.bsky.social TODAY at 2pm!

www.friendsofmedicare.org/public_healt...

The AB government announced a navigation portal for seniors in need of continuing care... And that's it.

But while seniors face real issues with the system, the government keeps privatizing & eroding care standards. Seniors in Alberta deserve real change!

Watch FOM's Chris Gallaway on Global news:

📍 Don't miss our next townhalls in Vegreville (TOMORROW!) and Edmonton (SUNDAY!):
friendsofmedicare.org/UrgentConver...

No Two-Tier Health Care! Every Albertan deserves timely, quality public health care based on need, NOT whether or not they can pay for it. Sign the petition: Say NO to two-tier health care in Alberta!

ALL Albertans deserve health care! Yet we're creating a two tier system where the wealthy can pay for unequal access, at the expense of everyone else.

It's not what Albertans want & it's not what we voted for. Act now to defend our public health care!

📢 friendsofmedicare.org/NoTwoTier

Camrose braved the cold yesterday to talk to us & @pfparks.bsky.social about our public health care!

Albertans are increasingly facing barriers to accessing the health care they need. And unprecedented privatization attacks from this government, like Bill 11, are accelerating things rapidly.

Blue-filtered photo of a health care worker pushing a seniors' wheelchair. Text reads, "Real Changes Needed for Continuing Care in Alberta"

Yesterday the AB government announced a new navigation portal for continuing care. But a portal can't fix the many structural problems in our system: short staffing, lack of capacity, degraded care standards... the list goes on!

Seniors deserve real change.
www.friendsofmedicare.org/change_neede...

Actions at Friends of Medicare Every Albertan deserves timely, quality public health care based on need, NOT whether or not they can pay for it. Sign the petition: Say NO to two-tier health care in Alberta!

🚨NOW is the time to speak out to defend our public health care!🚨

Take action at friendsofmedicare.org/actions

Because the Alberta government is throwing the door open to American health care in our province, and the trillion dollar industries that are waiting to capitalize off of our health needs. And without urgent action, we may not be able to close it again.

This will not stop at Alberta's borders.

Friends of Medicare is coming to a town near YOU! Friends of Medicare is coming to a town near YOU!

That's why we went to Ottawa last week, to call on our federal representatives to speak out against two tier health care & enforce the Canada Health Act. It's also why we've been all over Alberta raising the alarm about what Bill 11 will mean for Albertans, our health, and our bank accounts.

FOM's Chris Gallaway sat down with Alberta Primetime to talk about Bill 11 & the threat it poses to our health care.

The AB government isn't just undermining our equitable access to health care, it's also putting our international trade agreements in jeopardy.

www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/vid...