Health care: A tale of two election-time bombs

As Americans head to the polls in November and Canadians set to join them in October 2025, political parties on both sides of the border are busy hammering out the details of their campaigns. Key topics include the economy, immigration, and, in the US, democracy itself, with health care emerging as a controversial issue affecting nearly every candidate.

Pew Research Center in May found that the cost of health care ranks among the top issues for Americans, with 57% saying it’s a “very big problem” and 32% saying it’s a “moderately big problem” – a problem that it is held across parties, but not equally. While 65% are Democrats quoted as a “very big problem,” only 48% of Republicans did.

Canadians are just as concerned about health care condition the third among the main issues facing Canada at 42% and housing affordability / affordability (46%) only and the rising cost of living (71%) more than it.

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It’s demographics, stupid

Both populations are aging, and the elderly need more medical equipment. The US is expected to see its 65-plus population rise from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million in 2050.

Meanwhile, in Canada, adults are expected a 68% jump between 2017 and 2037, and the 75-plus group is set to double.

The results are less than ideal

Health-related costs and outcomes in both countries are vastly different. While some see Canada’s health care system as a better choice than America’s, Canada’s results are mixed. Its individual health insurance is covered by the provincial governments and is funded through a shared fund between the provinces and the federal government, but it is not comprehensive.

Canada finish about CA $344 billion in health care, or 12% of its GDP. However the latest study found that in the country’s most populous province, Ontario, wait times varied widely among hospitals, with some patients waiting as long as a year for hip and knee replacements. For some patients, waiting can be fatal: A report last year revealed that at least 17,000 Canadians will die while waiting for surgery or a diagnostic test in 2022-2023, and hundreds of emergency rooms closed nationwide due to staff shortages. Meanwhile, more 6 million Canadians – about 15% – do not have a family doctor.

But the Canadian system has a leg up in some ways on its American counterpart, where the country finish more on health care than any other rich country. American health care spending is projected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2023 between private and public sources – about 17% of GDP. And it’s rising, with spending expected to reach nearly 20% of GDP by 2032. A large portion of that comes from individual Americans, with annual health benefits of the employer. run now it’s over $8,400 and family plans are just under $24,000. For individual plans without an employer option, premiums averaged $1,200 per month.

The US is it only rich country without health care. While the number of unaffiliated Americans has declined in recent years, approx 27 million lack of protection – and that number may get up as millions more struggle to get health insurance.

To follow data from the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders68,000 Americans die each year because they lack access to health care. Again, a three Americans don’t have a family doctor – a failure that leads to an increase chronic conditions and the rise of death. The American system is so troubled that it has contributed to decrease average life expectancy in recent years, from 79 in 2019 up to 76.4 today.

Who will fix health care?

In America, Donald Trumpthat said he intends to cut Medicare and opposes universal protection regardless support in the past – others have warned that the former president would “destroy” Medicare. Meanwhile, Trump has warned that if KamalaHarris will win in November, the US would be “entered into a communist system,” where “everyone gets health care.”

Harris, who previously supported the single-payer system, has left out Medicare for All. Instead, he says he will build on Biden-era policy planks including Medicare price negotiations aimed at lowering drug costs for all patients, including Medicare and other plans.

The Canadian election is still more than a year away, and the major parties have yet to release their platforms. But the governing Liberals are facing pressure to reform the health system. That is primarily the responsibility of the provinces, but billions of dollars are poured into it every year.

To MayPrime Minister Justin Trudeau’s name the budget included a 5% annual increase in health care funding to the provinces until 2028 – more than CA $200 billion in total. His government is also committed to student loan forgiveness for doctors and other health professionals working in rural and remote areas and to improve the process of obtaining foreign licenses. country for immigrants in the field in order to strengthen the numbers of medical professionals, as well as other measures.

The feds are pushing for dental care and prescription drug programs meant to cover the costs of millions of Canadians. That sounds like a lot, but most of the work is left to the provinces, which are primarily responsible for health care policy.

The Liberals are vying for the leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre it can ax pharmacare and other public programs, but he has not committed himself in any way. His party has not released a full policy yet but he said solution to correct the problems related to the shortage of doctors and nurses will be the national standard of accreditation examination that will speed up the recognition of qualifications of foreign trained workers.

Poilievre has it too determined to keep the Liberals’ 10-year budget and says it will reduce waiting times a first.

What does it all mean for the ballot box?

Health care is already shaping policy agendas in Canada and the US. At the DNC meeting this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders hit with a hammer by lowering the cost of health care, the goal is rule majority of the meeting, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishamwarned that Trump and JD Vance it would “dismantle” affordable care.

Graeme Thompsona senior analyst at the Eurasia Group’s global macro-geopolitics practice, says Harris “runs away from the promises of Medicare for All as part of a broader strategy to deal with the political establishment.” He thinks this is an attempt to present himself as a “regular Democrat” who won’t scare anyone, a move that could be crucial to his chances of winning in November.

However, to the north, the ruling Liberals will not do the same. Thompson says it will be even more difficult for Trudeau to try to pull off such a policy since he has been in power for almost a decade. Instead, Trudeau will have to make the case that the transfers and reforms his party has proposed together will help provinces reduce wait times, keep ERs open, and ensure that people Canadians can find a family doctor.

“To that extent [Trudeau] brings health care as a force against the Conservatives to try to paint a picture for the voters of the Conservative Party that does not correspond to ordinary people, “he says, “which may present problems by emphasizing problems in the system.”

Problems that have been building up over decades will not be resolved in a few months or years, but voters are still waiting for results and both countries face a similar challenge in the run-up to Election Day. : fixing a health care system that neither side can afford. Ignorance, however, does not seem to be able to cure.