A new report titled, “National Health Expenditure Trends: 1975 to 2011” from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) predicts that total spending on health care in Canada is expected to increase by more than $7 billion in 2011 and will reach a forecast of $200.5 billion by 2007. This calculates to about $5,800 per Canadian and to $150 more per capita than last year.
In spite of that increase, growth in health care spending appears to be slowing down. Health care spending is expected to rise by four per cent in 2011 over last year – which is the slowest annual growth rate experienced in the last 15 years. By contrast, the average annual growth in health care spending was 7.4 per cent between 1998 and 2008.
Another new report, “Health Care Cost drivers: The Facts” from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) examines the key factors that contributed to the $200 billion milestone of health care spending for 2011. The report looks at public-sector health care spending between 1998 and 2008, a boom period when annual health expenditure in Canada more than doubled. It also identifies issues to monitor in the future.
The report found that Canada, like many countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), had a tendency to spend more on health care during periods of economic growth and higher income. The major factors that drove health care costs during that decade were compensation of health care providers, increased use of services and an evolution in the types of services provided and used.
To read the report, go to www.cihi.ca.