Investing in health and dental care makes good financial sense: former health minister

This column is an opinion by Sharon Blady, the founder of Speak Up: Mental Health Advocates & Blady & Associates, and the former NDP minister of health for Manitoba. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

Investing in health care saves lives and money. The new dental and pharmacare plans from the Liberal-NDP agreement can do exactly that.

Some Canadians are asking questions that arise whenever we move to improve, expand and universalize our health-care system: "But how can we pay for this?" and "Won't this raise taxes or cause further inflation?"

A fundamental piece missing from discussions about the new dental and pharmacare programs is how these will actually bend the health-care cost curve down and result in savings in other areas.

This isn't about convenience for a few. It's about improving the social determinants of health for many, resulting in savings for all Canadian taxpayers. 

Improved social determinants of health not only increases people's ability to fully participate in society, but also drives down government spending. These savings are not only seen in health care, they radiate into other areas of government — from child welfare and education to social services and justice.

In business and government, spending decisions are often based on ROIs — the return on every dollar invested or spent on a program or service. In health care, our best ROIs come from investing earlier in the health-care journey.

Lower rates of lung cancer due to no-smoking campaigns notably improved quality of life and the life spans of millions of Canadians, and provincial health-care systems benefited from decreasing costs of treatment and palliative care. Excellent ROIs for all involved. 

The proposed dental and pharmacare programs allow us the same opportunities for savings by investing in prevention.

Consider the savings associated with investing in the relatively low cost of regular dental check-ups, cleanings and early-stage treatments, compared to expensive hospital-based dental surgeries and emergency treatments arising from lack of access. 

It would also provide stability for those with long-term conditions.- Sharon Blady

For children, these surgeries can be the beginning of a lifetime of related health complications, including increased bacterial infections, hospitalizations and even the lifelong need for dental appliances and replacements. 

Lack of access to affordable dental care increases spending in other cost-intensive areas of health care like cardiac, emergency and ambulance services. 

Gum disease is associated with increased risk of heart disease, tooth loss patterns are connected to coronary artery disease and there is increased risk of diabetic complications for those who lack adequate dental care. 

The same can easily be seen by investing in affordable universal access to prescriptions. 

Simply put, increased pharmacare access means the difference between proper treatment and increased long-term health issues and costs. 

The ability for all Canadians to access medications when needed — without financial barriers — can prevent some conditions from becoming chronic. It would also provide stability for those with long-term conditions, better managing long-term health-care costs and, therefore, greatly improving the quality of life of Canadians. 

If we want to expand mental health services, increasing affordable access to prescriptions to manage all health conditions — including those used to manage mental health and neurodivergence diagnoses — must happen. 

Lacking access to company or union insurance plans, many Canadians find themselves and their families forgoing medications that make it possible to participate and succeed in school or the workplace, while increasing the likelihood of using other more expensive health-care services as a result. 

These programs can stop the bleeding of rising health-care budget lines.- Sharon Blady

The savings don't stop at health care. 

Just like the creation of medicare did more than 50 years ago (under another Liberal-NDP agreement), investing now in dental and pharmacare improves the social determinants of health.  It does so by providing social protection, supporting early childhood development, improving outcomes in education, working life conditions and job security. 

In turn, improving the social determinants of health also improves overall quality of life, resulting in decreased expenditures in justice, child welfare and social welfare supports — the safety nets when social determinants of health are inadequate.

Does it make sense to pay a higher cost after a problem has happened, or invest a smaller amount up front to prevent it? 

Of course the smaller investment up front makes the most sense. 

We have an opportunity to invest in prevention and save money in the long run.

These programs can stop the bleeding of rising health-care budget lines. Canadians would do well to recognize that this is not just the right thing to do morally, but also financially, and it is in our collective best interests.

• Read more opinion pieces published by CBC Manitoba.