The Health Care Crisis: A Solution through Less Government

The economist Adam Smith once observed the workings of the free market to seem as if they were coordinated by an 'invisible hand'. When a government attempts to centrally control an industry, the result is a displacement of incentives as well as an inability to respond to change. With regards to the health care sector in Canada, the provision of an entirely government controlled health care system is resulting in a health care crisis. The crisis is caused in part by demographic factors such as the aging baby boom generation, unhealthy modern lifestyles, and a lack of economic incentive to remain healthy. Shortcomings in the public health care system prevent society from effectively addressing these concerns, namely a result of government interference. The proposed solution is to move towards privatization of health care in Canada, combined with the effective implementation of cutting edge technology. There is undeniably a Canadian health care crisis, and it is caused by government interference in the free market.

As mentioned, one major cause of the health care crisis in Canada is the aging baby boom generation. Because such a large portion of the Canadian population is entering old age at the same time, there will be immense pressure on the health care system to care for these people as they encounter mounting health issues. This does not take into account the issue of filling the positions of retiring health care workers, which could be costly and perhaps with insufficient results.

In addition to this major issue there is also the epidemic of unhealthy habits in modern society; obesity being an area of particular concern (and the problem is augmenting). Other factors such as increased stress and prevalence of refined foods must also be taken into consideration. For these reasons, there is now more than ever a strain on an already eroding health care system.

An aggravating element to the problem of an increasingly unhealthy population is the lack of a clear economic incentive for the individual to remain healthy. While there are obvious personal reasons for leading a healthy lifestyle, when the government is footing the costs of treating those who do make unhealthy choices there is no direct monetary benefit to living healthily. An individual will be more likely to protect their good health and act responsibly if they must financially bear the burden of poor health-related choices. The lack of incentive for the individual consumer to engage in healthy behaviors is directly linked to the lack of a decentralized health care system.

The centrally planned health care system also encounters issues with regards to its monopolistic nature. Monopolies do not have the incentive to innovate, to carefully budget, nor to offer superior services, because there is no competition. This escalates the Canadian health care crisis because the current health care facilities may stagnate without the drive for growth. This can lead to less-than-satisfactory treatment options for Canadian citizens, forcing them to look elsewhere for treatment. There is also no incentive for timely treatment, an issue of particular importance as the current government looks to implement a wait-times guarantee for Canadians. Finally, there is no incentive to creating an attractive working environment for the health care workers. Without competition from other facilities, the incentive to create superior working conditions to attract health care employees is absent. As the working conditions for a government controlled health care system may remain unchallenged at status quo, Canada's health care workers will look abroad to countries with facilities offering more attractive jobs, leaving Canada with a shortage of people qualified to administer medical treatments. Every year Canada looses health care workers, and considering the aforementioned pressures on the health care system we cannot afford to be losing our medical workers to other areas. As well, Canada's next generations will be less inclined to enter a health-related profession if we do not ameliorate our enticements- which may only be accomplished through a move towards a competitive private health care system.

A competitive health-care sector is also needed to allow rapid response to change. This pertains not only to faster access to treatments, but also quality of treatment technologies and changing treatment demands. With the government bureaucracy, it can be painfully slow to affect change, resulting in an ineffective health care system that is unable to respond to the needs of Canadian society.

The most efficient way for the Canadian government to deliver effective health care is to move towards privatization. The manner which would best promote competition, while keeping individual costs at a minimum would be similar to that of the post- secondary education system in Canada. The government would provide funding to companies to assist with the costs of creating and running health care facilities, but the company would still have the profit motive. The consumer would pay a fee for the services received from the company; however the fee will be minimized as a result of the government subsidizing a portion of the company's costs. In this way, the company will have reason to be budget-conscious, innovative, and offer superior services and rates to its clients. In addition, the individual will have reason to want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, since they must pay a portion of their health care costs. The government must also fund programs to assist those who simply cannot afford even the nominal health care fees. These funds would be given to individuals who meet specific criteria which ensures that they are truly in need. This would ensure that all Canadian citizens have access to health care, regardless of income, yet allow for a free-market system.

As a result of this subsidized free market system, competition would drive companies to innovate in order to increase profitability. By using this technology in an effective manner, the Canadian public can save money and obtain the best possible health care. Competition also hastens the process of innovation, which will produce new treatments more quickly than with a government controlled system. The government should prevent collusion amongst health care providers in order to maintain a competitive market and to prevent escalating prices for consumers. By maintaining a certain level of competition, the government may stimulate development of technologies. However, it is advantageous to have an oligopoly, with a few large health care providers dominating the market. In this way, economies of scale may be exploited while maintaining competition and innovation. It is not to suggest that the government should intentionally create such a market structure, but to say that should such a structure naturally form the government should not prevent this occurrence. It must simply prevent the re-formation of a monopolistic health care system, which would fail the Canadian public.

Lastly, the government should also provide funding for programs to encourage healthy, active lifestyles. If managed properly, these programs would reduce dependence on the health care system. Aside from this, Canadian society as a whole would be better served by prevention of health problems as opposed to trying to treat already existing problems. Canadians citizens would be more productive and lead more fulfilling, happy lives if there were incentives and programs that caused them to want to make the choice to live healthily.

In conclusion, the Canadian government should move towards a privatized health care system in order to confront the health care crisis. The health care crisis is partially the result of major pressures from the baby boom generation, as well as currently unhealthy trends in society. Lack of competition, and government bureaucracy result in an inability to deliver health care to Canadian taxpayers. The most effective solution is for the government to move to a subsidized, yet privatized system where costs to individuals are minimized, while still significant enough to maintain a profit motive for health care providers. This system must be regulated to prevent collusion, and to ensure all Canadians have access to treatment. Additionally, the government must provide programs which will entice the public to lead more healthy lifestyles, presented in an engaging manner. Thus the health care crisis in Canada may be alleviated through less government control.