Defend Public Healthcare

As feared yesterday -- the premiers rolled. Their  media release on health care  that came out as their meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake ended  didn't even dare to beg for better federal health care funding.  It  didn't even utter the word "federal".  Despite the hole the new federal funding policy will leave in provincial coffers, despite the protestors who told the premiers yesterday that federal funding was THE issue, restoring federal health care funding was a complete non-issue for the premiers. In another release on fiscal arrangements they did recall  that last year the  Premiers' Fiscal Arrangements Working Group   had reported  " federal health care funding would be reduced by almost $36 billion over the 10-year period from 2014/15 to 2023/24 compared to the arrangements currently in place".   But instead of demanding the cut be reversed, they  asked  only that the federal government "avoid further unilateral changes to programs&

At this week's meeting of the provincial premiers there were some sharp complaints about the federal government. But missing -- so far -- is any significant complaint about the one issue likely closest to the hearts of Canadians -- public health care.    Yet the federal government plans to kill its longstanding commitment to increase health care funding 6% per year, replacing it with as little as half of that.   As CUPE research materials indicate , that means losing an awful lot of cash for public health care -- many billions. The premiers lack of action on this comes despite a large demonstration in front of their meeting today.  The protestors demanded the premiers stand up to the Stephen Harper government on federal health care funding. All we got publicly from Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne was a thank you for helping the government focus. That's not going to get her government any more federal funding.  Not even a nickel. Tomorrow, the premiers w

Hospitals are often stereotyped as providers of acute care services.  In fact, acute care accounts for a relatively small portion of total hospital services. As noted a few days ago ,  costs per acute care patient (or, more exactly, per "weighted case")  in Ontario are significantly below the national average, coming in at $5,174  in 2010-11 (and $5,184 in 2011-12). There  was 1,484,046 weighted acute care (and newborn) cases in 2010-11 in Ontario. So  the total acute inpatient cost is about  $7,678,454,004. In 2010-11, the total hospital sector expense (funded from both government and other sources) was $20.6 billion according to figures in the  2010 Budget .   As a result, acute care spending amounts to only 37.2% of all hospital spending. In other words, acute care is a significant part of hospital activity --but it is in a decided minority in overall scheme of things going on at hospitals.   Good news for P3 privatizers , Ontario's privatized P3 Highway,

The real costs for the average hospital acute care patient are declining. As noted yesterday this is true for both Ontario and Canada, based on data just released from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).    But the CIHI data also revealed other interesting trends, likely related.   Administrative Costs Decline:  Administrative costs fell from 6.21% of total expenses in 2009-10 to 6.15% in 2010-11 and then down to 5.91% in 2011-12.   With a total hospital spend in the range of $21 billion in Ontario, this 0.3% reduction frees up about $63 million annually. The decline in administrative costs across Canada has also been marked, declining by a similar amount as in Ontario to fall to 4.7% of total  hospital expenditures.   Long-Term Efficiencies Achieved in Support and Administrative  Services: This decline in administrative costs is part of a longer term trend.  A  2005 report  from CIHI indicated  administrative expenses took up significantly mor

Ontario has the lowest hospital cost per weighted case of all the provinces.  And the cost difference between Ontario and the rest of the country is growing. Hospital Cost Per Weighted Case ($) 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 Newfoundland 6,001 6,283 6,332 PEI DQ DQ 5,257 Nova Scotia 4,998 5,403 5,384 New Brunswick 5,104 5,380 5,390 Quebec 4,455 4,550 4,728 Ontario 5,164 5,174 5,184 Manitoba 5,403 5,438 5,396 Saskatchewan 5,722 5,883 6,174 Alberta 6,139 6,399 6,631 BC 5,456 5,571 5,232 North West Territories N/R N/R N/R Yukon DQ 7,709 7,394 Weighted Average 5,172 5,281 5,335 Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI ): Canadia

Canada is an extreme outlier in terms of hospital services.  We provide hospital inpatient services to fewer patients than any other developed nation.    The 34 member "rich nations" club, the Organization for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD) has released its  2013 comparison of health statistics for its member states.  For 2011 (or the reported year closest to 2011) the OECD reports that the average number of hospital discharges per 100,000 people is 15,561.     The Canadian rate reported is 8,249.   In other words, we have just over half (53%) the number of discharges as other developed nations.  Only Mexico has a lower number -- although many would classify it as a developing nation rather than a rich one.  Otherwise, Chile, which has 15% more discharges, is our nearest comparator.  The rest range  between 24%  higher (Spain) to 333% higher (Austria).  (You can download the complete 2013 OECD comparison by clicking  here. ) Even this may understate