The Canadian Medical Association has delivered its final report to Roy Romanow's commission examining the future of health care. The doctors' organization makes 30 recommendations which includes a push for a Canadian health charter and user fees.

The CMA would also like to see more private-sector involvement. The report ultimately concludes Ottawa should pay half of all publicly funded health care costs, which could amount to up to $8 billion a year.

Critics say the report is just an attempt to revive the issue of user fees, calling it a ploy by the CMA to increase their salaries through privatization. The report, Prescription for Sustainability, covers a series of other issues.

The doctor's organization calls for national benchmarks outlining how long patients should wait for medical treatment. CMA President Dr. Henry Haddad said guarantees needed to be clearly spelled out in a speech to Empire Club in Toronto on Thursday.

"These health care access standards -- guarantees, if you will -- will be very clear statements about the maximum time any patient in any province or territory should ever have to wait for care.''

In reference to establishing a health charter, Haddad says the idea was first proposed back in 1964 in an article recently published on the CMA website.

"Neither the Canada Health Act nor the Charter of Rights and Freedoms spells out explicitly the right of Canadians to receive quality health care in a timely manner," Haddad said.

"A charter would allow modernization and better management of the system by clearly articulating health policy goals and would provide accountability and transparency to ensure these goals are being met."

The CMA would also like to see an independent health commission to act as a watchdog group. The doctor's organization proposes a board composed of ordinary citizens and health professionals to oversee the commission.

Romanow, who is heading the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care, said he welcomes the 30 recommendations. He's expected to deliver his final report on how to reform medicare in November.

"Much research has been done on the changes needed to make progress," Haddad is quoted as saying at the CMA website.

"The weak link has been dealing with the 'hows' of structural and procedural changes and the CMA believes that if we get the structures and processes right, positive health outcomes for our patients will follow."