Boomers should pay health costs

Re: ‘Code Gridlock’: In the eye of Ottawa’s hospital crowding storm, March 25.

Thanks to Elizabeth Payne for her up-close look at gridlock at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. The political-medical complex has had at least 50 years to plan and prepare for the Boomer tsunami, but nothing has been done. (When was “baby boom” coined?) Since our political systems are increasingly blind to anything past the next election, it’s time to put Canada’s impoverished health systems beyond the reach of politicians and funding-from-taxes.

Boomers (like me) should pay for the health services consumed by boomers. Hundreds of billions of dollars will be inherited by boomers (unlike me) this decade. I suspect much of that amount will pass from the rich to their rich offspring. Let’s take that money and inject it into our health systems. Need more money? Introduce income-linked deductibles. Anyone driving an Audi or vacationing in Monte Carlo can pay (a lot) more for health services. And perhaps the rich are willing to pay more; they’re certainly willing to pay to go to the head of the line in the U.S. Ken Kingsbury, Ottawa