It’s good to see Dr. Michael Rachlis on the opinion pages of today’s Toronto Star.
Rachlis has been tireless in his myth-busting around the sustainability of health care.
As he points out today, total health care costs as a percentage of the economy have been falling for the last two years. Not only that, but they have also been falling as a percentage of provincial expenditures across Canada. Falling, not rising.
On average, provinces are now spending 38 cents on the dollar for health care, a far cry from the 50 cents or 70 cents that Don Drummond, Brian Mulroney and David Dodge have been projecting to scare Canadians into accepting something less.
Rachlis also states that public reform – not privatization – can go much further to increase access to family doctors, specialists and elective surgeries.
Between 2000 and 2011 Canadian governments (provincial and federal) cut taxes by nearly six per cent of the size of our economy. That means there is $100 billion less to pay for services that Canadians rely on. When Canadians hear that, he says, they are ready for Medicare to cover drugs and continuing care.
“The medical profession, almost all the provinces, and most of the Canadian elite opposed Medicare 50 years ago. Fortunately, the Canadian people strongly supported Medicare then and they still do,” writes Rachlis.
Rachlis will be speaking November 18th at the upcoming Ontario Health Coalition Action Assembly/Conference weekend. He will be joined that day by economist Hugh Mackenzie and Osgoode Hall tax law professor Neil Brooks.
Click here to go to Dr. Michael Rachlis’ website.
OPSEU Diablogue 