Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Health care in Canada costs typical Canadian family more than $11,000
Health care in Canada is not “free.” Canadians often misunderstand the true cost of our public health care system. This occurs partly because Canadians do not incur direct expenses for their use of health care, and partly because Canadians cannot readily determine the value of their contribution to public health care insurance because there is no “dedicated” health insurance tax.
In 2014, the estimated average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $3,592 to $11,786 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family. For the average Canadian family, between 2004 and 2014, the cost of public health care insurance increased about 1.5 times faster than average income, 1.3 times as fast as the cost of shelter, 1.6 times as fast as clothing, and more than three times as fast as food. The 10 percent of Canadian families with the lowest incomes will pay an average of about $523 for public health care insurance in 2014. The 10 percent of Canadian families who earn an average income of $57,818 will pay an average of $5,522 for public health care insurance and the families among the top 10 percent of income earners in Canada will pay $37,239.
With a more precise estimate of what they really pay, Canadians will be in a better position to decide whether they are getting a good return on the money they spend on health care.
Share
-
Bacchus Barua
Director, Health Policy Studies, Fraser InstituteBacchus Barua is Director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Health Policy Studies. He completed his BA (Honours) in Economicsat the University of Delhi (Ramjas College) and received an MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University. Mr. Barua has conducted research on a range of key health-care topics including hospital performance, access to new pharmaceuticals, the sustainability of health-care spending, the impact of aging on health-care expenditures, and international comparisons of health-care systems. He also designed the Provincial Healthcare Index (2013), co-led the creation of Comparing Performance of Universal Health Care Countries (2016) and co-authored the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of wait times, Waiting Your Turn, for over a decade (2010–2022). In 2022, Bacchus was invited to provide testimony as part of a panel of witnesses for the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (HESA). Mr. Barua is a frequent commentator on radio and television, and his articles have appeared in well-known news outlets including the National Post, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and forbes.com.… Read more Read Less… -
Milagros Palacios
Director, Addington Centre for Measurement, Fraser InstituteMilagros Palacios is the Director for the Addington Centre for Measurement at the Fraser Institute. She holds a B.S. in IndustrialEngineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Concepcion, Chile. Ms. Palacios has studied public policy involving taxation, government finances, investment, productivity, labour markets, and charitable giving, for nearly 10 years. Since joining the Institute, Ms. Palacios has authored or coauthored over 70 comprehensive research studies, 70 commentaries and four books. Her recent commentaries have appeared in major Canadian newspapers such as the National Post, Toronto Sun, Windsor Star, and Vancouver Sun.… Read more Read Less…
Related Topics
Related Articles
By: Dr. Jehangir Appoo, Glen Sumner and Aria S. Appoo
By: Bacchus Barua and Mackenzie Moir
By: Bacchus Barua and Mackenzie Moir
By: Mackenzie Moir