Canadian Health Care - Co-payments based on income
The Canadian health plan remains our most popular government program. However, if we could start over, we could transform a very good system into a great one. Our main obstacle to reform is the very success of the system to date. Politicians admit privately that reforms are needed but they hesitate to speak out. This does not make for thoughtful debate. Most problems stem from one cause. From the beginning, we ignored advice and made taxes the single source of funding.. But there never are sufficient revenues for an open-ended system. This is why we struggle with scarcity of staff and equipment. While the U.S. probably spends too much on health care, Canada needs to spend more. We have to pay the price if we want a first-class system. Our system, while very good, is due for an upgrade. But it is not realistic to expect Canadian governments to increase their share. Health-care costs have been climbing to the point where they are crowding out other essentials such as education and welfar
