Jessica+Quach

=**Necessities to Support Baby Boomers: Canada's Future Crisis**=

Healthcare funding has been an ongoing concern in Canada especially, in regards to the aging baby boomers who have reached or is approaching retirement age. Canadians aged 55 to 65 accounts for nearly one third of the country’s population of 32 million. This age group in Canada increased in numbers by 28 percent in the past five years, totaling to 3.7 million as reported in 2007 (CBC News, 2007). In Ontario, controversy about the health tax has been an ongoing debate since it was first proposed. Healthcare funding is estimated to be $139 million for 2009 according to the Ontario government, some estimates for the actual amount needed for healthcare is as high as $878 million (The Canadian Press, 2009). As a result of the amount of baby boomers, not only is the lack of funding for healthcare to support this population is an issue, but the labor market will have consequences in the future as well. Though there are distinguishable issues to the upcoming influx of retirees, some argue that Canada will be able to support this population when the time comes. How Canada, or specifically Ontario, will handle the situation is debatable. The present state of the country as well as trends, are useful indicators to base on in making predictions.

One may argue that Canada will be able to support the aging population since baby boomers in their later years will be in better health compared to the current population of seniors (Hebert, 2003). Lifestyles have changed overtime and seniors have become healthier, and advancements in therapies, programs, and the like have changed to improve health. Though some seniors may have healthy lifestyles, one in four Canadians over the age of 65 suffer from cognitive decline through Alzheimer’s or other signs of dementia. However true this may be, the state of Canada’s economy determines more of how Canada’s health care will fare as opposed to a senior’s lifestyle.

Due to our economy heading towards a recession, hospitals across Ontario are making staff cuts in order to balance their budgets. In the coming fiscal year, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions predicted that 5,000 jobs will be eliminated (Boyle, 2009). Correlating to the budget, patients will also suffer. In additions to having fewer professionals around due to job cuts, some hospitals are reducing the number of beds and the length of a patient’s stay, which affects a patient’s care while in the hospital.

At Kingston General Hospital, not only are there shortages of beds and services, these shortages causes the hospital to sent patients away because the hospital is full. In a sense, if hospitals are overcrowded now and are failing to care for patients, health care will not be able to support the increasing numbers of baby boomers that are on the way. According to a report by the Standing Senate Committee of Canada, by 2030, when most of the baby boomers will have retired, per capita public spending on healthcare for seniors are predicted to be nearly 5 times greater than spending on the rest of the population (Ionni, 2008).

In regards to the rest of the population, the tax payers will be the children of baby boomers. In the past, the number of children that were born from baby boomers decreased drastically compared to the child birth rate in their parents’ time, and therefore the spending population will be too small in numbers to support the retirement of baby boomers. As a result, Canada’s total population that is working will equal 49% of the population in 2020, compared to the 51% working in 2006 (Fortin, 2006). Simply put, the 4% drop will decrease tax revenues, resulting in the government collecting less money. For example, if Canadians paid $500 billion in income and taxes this year, our government would collect $20 billion less. The drop in the population that is working will also cause a lack of skilled and experienced employees in the workforce.

Governments have three options in trying to keep health care from becoming a crisis: (1) go back into debt, (2) cut or privatize public services, or (3) raise taxes (Fortin, 2006). It seems Ontario chose to raise taxes, cut, and privatize public services, as evident in Premier Dalton McGuinty’s ruling out of lowering health tax, and Ontario hospitals having to cut down services to maintain their budget. Privatizing services are also slowly increasing as reported in The New York Times in 2006, increasing the openings of private clinics in Canada at a rate of approximately one each week (Ionni, 2008).

Pierre Fortin forecasted the impact of demographic changes in Canada expected in 2020. As this prediction was made in 2006, Fortin estimated that 2020’s population would make a deficit of $38 billion in government budgets (Fortin, 2006). Public finances will dramatically, as tax revenues would drop, spending on health and social services would increase, and federal payments to seniors would increase. Since so much will be invested in health care, allowances for children and education expenditures would see a decrease in spending.

Ontario may or may not be in a crisis in supporting the baby boomers in the future, in regards to health care and welfare. If predicaments had to be made using the present state of the economy and the living state in Ontario, it is evident Ontario will have difficulties in supporting the baby boomers when they retire and need health care, especially since the economy is heading towards recession. The present state of Ontario, with shortages of hospital beds and budget cuts, justifies that Ontario is not prepared for the incoming seniors retiring. If there are shortages now when only a few baby boomers are retiring, imagine the outcome when there are twice as much seniors that need medical attention. The problem is only going to become worse, so Ontario should integrate response to health care before it goes into a state of crisis, When it comes down to it, politics will play a major role in how well a country will support the aging population. Future crisis or not, only time will tell.

Works Cited

__Baby boomers swell ranks of retirement-aged Canadians__. 17 July 2007. CBC Canada. 5 Feb. 2009 .

__The baby boomers' tab__. 17 July 2006. CBC Canada. 4 Feb. 2009 .

__Can Canada's healthcare sustain the age transformation?__ 22 July 2002. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 4 Feb. 2009 .

__Canada's Health Care 'Crisis'__ 11 Apr. 2006. The Tyee. 4 Feb. 2009 .

__Canada's looming acute-care crisis__. 22 Apr. 2007. The Star. 4 Feb. 2009 .

__McGuinty rules out lowering health tax__. 2 Feb. 2009. The Star. 4 Feb. 2009 .