Health care funding crisis a myth, says McMaster researcher

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/gordon_guyatt1.jpg” caption=”Gordon Guyatt”]Contrary to popular belief, health care spending in Canada has remained stable over the last decade, argues McMaster researcher Gordon Guyatt in an article published in today's Canadian Medical Assocation Journal.

In fact, outcry over rising health care costs is designed to undermine universal health care, says the professor of clinical epidemiology & biostatistics and medicine in McMaster's Faculty of Health Sciences.

“For the last 15 years,” he says, “Canadians have faced uncertainty regarding the availability of public funds to provide universal, high-quality health care. In this paper, we point out the essential stability of Canada's health care spending during the last decade and the need for resources to ensure that an aging population will have access to the increasing range of beneficial health technologies and services it legitimately expects. We lay out principles and options for structural changes necessary to ensure the stability of public health care funding.”

Guyatt's article can be found on the CMAJ Web site.