My Morning Rant: You wanted peace and quiet? Forget about it

Just about everything I touch is getting more expensive.

The number of Thing$ Going North ($$) keeps growing.

(That’s why I carry a travel mug to The Red Roaster. I’m charged the cheapest rate for coffee. And I know how to get my refill for free! Call me).

Ontario’s Minister of Health knows what I’m talking about - except for the free refill thingy.

As in other provinces in Canada and countries around the world, health care budgets are climbing. (Ontario - $46 billion/year, no ceiling in sight).


Part of the growing cost relates to the number of drugs people are administered, many of them seniors, and ‘the high number of prescriptions’ is something I’ve written about - after I picked my jaw off the ground.

In part one of an earlier two-part series re prescription costs I mention that you could visit a fast-food restaurant wherein a group of 65-year old people are tucking into cheeseburgers and fries and discover that, on average in Canada, 67% of them possess five or more types of prescription drugs, 21% have 10 or more and 6% have 15 or more.

And in part two I offer several brilliant suggestions.

When I consider growing health care budgets alongside growing provincial debt ($200 billion in Ontario alone), I feel it’s little wonder the provincial government recently did two things:

One - “put plans in place to ban about $750 million in annual fees paid to pharmacies by generic drug companies to stock their products”

Two - informed Ontarians that we have “much higher generic drug costs than other provinces and the change will cut costs by 50% for consumers, employers and government drug programs.” (Apr. 17 issue of The London Free Press)

Expect the push back from pharmacies and drug companies to be huge.

The bigger they’ve grown, partially on the back of high prescription prices, the louder they’ll shout.

Don't expect peace and quiet around here anytime soon.

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