The "Unsustainability" Myth

This is a very interesting article from The CCPA Monitor, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The author, Robert Evans, is a University Killam Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia and a member of that university’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research. He is an officer of the Order of Canada, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Services.

"The central fact is that apart from periods of recession, spending on Medicare - hospitals and physicians' services - has remained fairly steady, fluctuating between 4% and 5% of GDP since 1975."

Mr. Evans says the appearance of escalating Medicare costs has been manufactured by substantial cuts to personal and corporate income taxes by the federal and most provincial governments. Governments have deliberately, and unnecessarily deprived themselves of the revenue they need for all the social programs they fund, not just Medicare. Most of the benefits have gone to high-income individuals and highly profitable corporations, and not to needy Canadians. This is otherwise known as taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

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The "Unsustainability" Myth