Here it comes again -- an idea that surfaces regularly in Canadian health care debates and seems to hold sway with those who advocate common sense principles: user fees.

Some people think that charging patients when they use the health system would help control health care costs, ensure that people...

We hear over and over again that Canada's aging population threatens the financial sustainability of its health care system. And there's no denying that Canada's population is getting older -- in fact, the proportion of the population aged 65 and older will almost double during the next 20 years.