Pharmacare Deal: What Happens When Health Care Is Reduced to Politics

Commentary By Susan Martinuk A national pharmacare deal has been reached and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is proclaiming it to be a huge win for his party. But amid the Gatorade celebrations and public self-congratulatory statements, Mr. Singh and his MPs appear to be blind to the possibility that this deal may be the final straw that breaks what’s left of the back of Canadian health care. Most obviously, the plan is fiscally irresponsible. Health care already costs the federal government over $300 billion per year. Yet, in the past few months, as the gaping cracks in the system have become increasingly evident, the Liberals have added on a $13 billion per year dental plan that will soon go into effect. And now this—another $40 billion per year to fund a behemoth pharmacare bureaucracy. It’s just another expensive add-on to our piecemeal system that is already on life support because of a lack of both cash and innovation....