By: Josh Dehaas
Canadians, we are often told, value our public health-care system beyond almost all other things that define us as a country. But cracks in that bedrock principle are showing.
New polling conducted by Leger finds that more than one in three Canadians under the age of 55 (34 per cent) say they’ve “paid for private health care services because they wanted to avoid long wait times or unsatisfactory services in the public system.” For those 55+ it’s just 18 per cent.
Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds of Canadians under age 55 (64 per cent) told Leger we should “keep our public health care system, but allow patients to use their own money, or their extended health insurance, to pay for surgery at local private clinics if they cannot get timely care in the public system.” A smaller proportion (although still a majority) of those 55+ (56 per cent) agreed.
Ipsos found a similar age gap last year. When asked whether governments in Canada should “allow patients increased access to healthcare services provided by independent health entrepreneurs,” younger Canadians were most strongly supportive. Two-thirds (66 per cent) of those aged 18-34 agreed with allowing more access to private care, compared to 50 per cent for those 55+.
Why are younger Canadians less likely to support private health-care options? A few theories.
First, older Canadians tend to consume far more legacy media like CBC News and CTV News, which have dogmatic views about health-care. The legacy media often frames its reporting as though any steps toward a European-style mixed system, where most people get most health care from a public system most of the time, but where private options also exist, as sacrilegious and un-Canadian. On TV news, private is a dirty word.
Younger Canadians, by contrast, get their news more from podcasts and social media, which offer more diverse views on the subject.
Speaking of social media, another possible reason younger people are more open to private care is that we’re bombarded with ads on Instagram and YouTube for online pharmacies and online doctors — and many of us have tried them. Once you’ve used online private care, you’ll avoid bricks-and-mortar clinics at all costs. Why waste half a day going to a doctor’s office and a pharmacy when you can pay $50 to see a doctor on your smartphone from bed and have your prescription arrive in your mailbox? And if you can see a doctor quicker by paying, where’s the harm in that?
Finally, and I suspect this is the biggest reason, Millennials and Gen Z-ers simply don’t trust the government to provide for them the way older generations did. We faced excessive disruptions to school, work and social life during the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily to protect older people from the virus. Many of us have been unable to afford to buy homes and start families, while Boomers buy second homes and vacation in Tuscany.
We don’t trust the institutions the way older generations did so we don’t expect the public health care system to be there for us when we need it. We’re open to other options.
Josh Dehaas is Litigation Director (interim) with the Canadian Constitution Foundation. The survey by Leger was commissioned by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Second Street and MEI ahead of this week’s Prescriptions for Health Reform Conference in Toronto.
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A couple of thoughts on the myth of greedy Boomers: is it really that hard to believe that folks who have enjoyed the quality years of our nationalized healthcare system would vote for its continuation?
I am a reluctant Boomer who has always supported a hybrid healthcare system.
I don’t vacation in Tuscany, Florida, or anywhere else, for that matter.
The point I am trying to make goes something like this: for decades, Canadians have allowed the Liberal Party of Canada (and the Liberal Party of Ontario) to pit Canadian against Canadian for the Party’s own electoral success.
As conservatives, should we not be attempting to do just the opposite?
Hear! Hear! Wholly agree! Mixed system is the way to go. And I know boomers who abuse the system we have now while complaining the entire time. “Did you pay for your treatment?” I always ask,just to cut them off. It’s not a right! My tax dollars,year round, continue to pay for their care while they lounge in Florida sis months less a day.