Health Care Spending To Reach $160 Billion

Scott said the findings may be due in part to public investments in health services from health accords signed between the federal and provincial and territorial governments in recent years. "For example, we have seen recent government initiatives to increase services in wait times priority areas, investments to attract and retain health providers and an increase in spending on buildings and equipment," Scott said. The CIHI report shows that in 2007 health expenditures are forecast to reach $4,867 per Canadian. The report also broke down how much is spent publicly and how much is spent privately on health care. Public sector spending is expected to represent close to 71 per cent of total health care spending in Canada in 2007, while private sector spending (including privately insured and out-of-pocket expenses) is projected to be about 29 per cent of the total. Hospitals make up the largest component of health care spending, followed by drug costs and then physicians. "This year, however, spending on physicians is expected to grow slightly faster (8.5 per cent) than spending on drugs (7.2 per cent) and hospitals (5.6 per cent)," said CIHI. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador are expected to have the highest health care spending per person at $3,696 and $3,637 respectively, CIHI reports, while Quebec and Prince Edward Island are projected to have the lowest ($2,853 and $3,010). http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=8a53ce1a-3054-40ad-a792-78c7a2e50990 [Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on November 14, 2007]

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