Expanding medical care
As Canada’s population ages, demand is growing to invest more in medical care, pharmacare, and long-term care. There’s good reason to make these investments, given evidence about potential positive impacts on health, access, and equality. But even good programs must be paid for, and paid for fairly. This means confronting questions about who is paying what now, and who is best able to contribute a bit more. Young people already shoulder a higher tax burden than earlier generations, while also struggling with deteriorating wages and higher costs for education, housing and child care. Older Canadians enjoy more wealth than any other demographic – but still leave bills unpaid for the services they want and use. If we want to expand seniors’ services, it is reasonable to explore how some of the wealth accumulated by older generations can help cover the cost.