Canada spends more and gets less in health care than most advanced nations
May 12, 2011
Joseph Hall
HEALTH REPORTER
Canadians are not getting what they’re paying for with their health care dollars, a new report says.
This country spends more per capita on health care than all but three of the world’s most advanced nations, yet ranks a lowly 10th in the quality of medicine it delivers, the Conference Board of Canada report argues.
“The clear message for Canada is that we’re fourth highest on the spending list here and yet we’re not doing as well when it comes to health outcomes,” says David Stewart-Patterson, the board’s vice-president of public policy.
“We can and should be getting better value for our health-care spending in terms of the length and quality of life that Canadians enjoy,” Stewart-Patterson says.
With 10 per cent of our gross domestic product tied up in health costs, this country spends about $4,100 per person each year on its overall medical system.
Yet in terms of longevity and infant mortality, two common points of comparison when ranking systems internationally, Canada is well down the list of the 17 nations surveyed, Stewart-Patterson says.
Canada placed seventh on the list in terms of longevity and second from the bottom in infant mortality statistics, he said.
This country’s 10th place showing has not changed since a major 2009 report put out by the board, which looked at data from the previous year to set its rankings.
Thursday’s document, which also used the 2008 data, brought in per capita health costs to compare the effectiveness of our spending with the other nations, Stewart-Patterson says.
And we don’t perform admirably in that mix, he says.
Japan, with $2,729 per capita annual expenditures, delivers the best health system, based on the longevity and infant mortality parameters.
“Italy has the second-lowest (costs) and has the third best life expectancy,” Stewart-Patterson says.
The U.S., on the other hand, spends substantially more — about $7,500 per person — on health care than any of the other listed nations and provides amongst the worst care, he says.
“So obviously they are not the model of health care we should be looking to for improvements.”
While there may well be cultural and social issues at play in the varying health outcomes among the listed nations, the report is a good indication that Canada can spend its health care money more wisely, Stewart-Patterson says.
“Clearly there are other countries we can and should be learning from,” he says.
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