Spin-busting: Public, universal health care is sustainable

Despite fear-mongering, per-person health care spending in Canada has not increased in a decade

By: Dr. Gordon Guyatt

  What would happen if we did respond to Mr. Clement's rhetoric, and constrict public health care spending? Care within the public system would deteriorate, and Canadians who can pay would demand superior prior care.
  Private health care providers, including large American companies, would eagerly step in. Costly private health insurance, with associated overhead, marketing costs and shareholder profits, would blossom.
 

If Canadians start spending money on private health care, will it be the private companies that profit most?

  Soon, we would be following the U.S. model. Rather than spending approximately 11 per cent of our health care costs on administration as we do now, Canada would soon be spending over 20 per cent, as Americans do. Furthermore, because public spending is far easier to control than private spending, our health care expenditures would rise toward the American figure of 14 per cent of the GDP.
  There is no doubt then, that Canadians will be spending more on health care in the future. The question is, who will benefit from the increased spending? If we go the American private route, the affluent, private health insurers and private companies will be the winners.
  If we see through the false arguments about "sustainability" we will put the increased resources in to public health care, and all Canadians will benefit. Let's hope we blow away the smoke screens, and make right choice.

Dr. Guyatt is a founding member of the Medical Reform Group, and an MRG spokesperson for most of the last 20 years. He is a Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. A version of this article appeared previously in Hamilton Spectator.

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Posted: May 14, 2001

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