health care spending

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The provincial government has finally decided to cut back on one small area of health spending, by significantly increasing user fees for Pharmacare. Although many British Columbians are under the misapprehension that the Liberal government cut back health care spending, spending increased the day it took over from the NDP.

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Six weeks ago, on this page, I lamented Roy Romanow’s failure to propose creative reforms to our country’s health care system. He simply demanded $15 billion more federal transfers to provinces, while expanding government monopoly into national homecare and a program to cover catastrophic pharmaceutical expenses. It’s not clear how he came up with the figure. Perhaps he just multiplied the $15 million cost of his Commission by one thousand?


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That report’s introduction reveals the futility of the task: “… a one-person, time-limited Commission cannot address every conceivable issue affecting the future of health care in Canada.” Take one man, add a budget of over $15 million, solicit the views of every interest group in the land for ten months, and the best you’re going to get is a vague statement of indecision.