Since Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberals embarked on testy negotiations with the provinces over health transfers for the next decade, Canadians have seen the re-emergence of a persistent public-policy issue: runaway medical expenses.

Those expenses now soak up more than 70 per cent of some provincial budgets, and Ottawa’s initial proposal — another 3.5 per cent a year — is widely seen as inadequate. The provinces feel — even with an added $11 billion the feds say they would spend on mental health and home care over the coming decade — that is simply not enough for a population that is both aging and ailing. Almost four in 10 Canadians over the age of 20 report that they suffer from at least one of 10 major chronic conditions.

But in the face of overstretched budgets, there are now other options, many of which represent the long-sought shift to prevention from cure. A growing number of entrepreneurs have recognized that with the assistance of cutting-edge technology, employers can play a role in reducing stress on the health-care system by helping their employees fend off illness.

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