Author: Brett J. Skinner
The Non-Sustainability of Health Care Financing Under the Medicare Model argues that, without real substantial reform, we are not going to escape our place as the big spenders on health care any time soon. A dramatically aging population, the introduction of new and ever more expensive medical technologies and rising consumer demands for the highest quality, leading-edge health care are driving costs beyond the capabilities of the health care system to afford them while relying on public financing alone. The sustainability of the health care system ultimately depends on whether public budgets can continue to absorb the costs of health care for Canadians, and the evidence indicates that the medicare approach is failing and will not be able to fulfill expectations without fundamental reforms.