Canada increases healthcare spending
Researchers have figured out how and why medical spending will rise in 2022.
Compared to other nations, Canada has one of the highest levels of per capita healthcare spending — the country comes in after Germany and the Netherlands and ahead of Sweden and Australia in a statistical list of 38 counties.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) publishes its annual report on trends in national healthcare spending. In 2022, they will be $331 billion CAD — that's 12.2% of GDP. According to the institute, the country will spend on average about $8,653 CAD per Canadian.
Healthcare spending grew steadily at about 4% per year from 2015 to 2019. Because of the coronavirus epidemic, funding rose sharply to 13% in 2020 and increased another 7% the following year. Now the budgetary burden on the sector is decreasing. Meanwhile, hospitalization rates due to COVID-19 are now even higher than in 2021.
"Despite stabilizing in 2022, Canada's healthcare spending growth continues to be driven by ongoing factors such as an aging population, population growth and healthcare utilization," said Ann Chapman, director of spending and primary care at CIHI.
The largest spending categories were hospitals, doctors, and medications. They account for more than 50% of the total budget. Doctors and medications each account for 13.6% of spending, and almost a quarter of the budget goes to hospitals. Hospitals thus cost Canadians about $2,084 CAD per person. CIHI's report notes that spending on doctors decreased by 3.6% in 2020 because many types of medical care were postponed amid the risk of COVID-19 infection.
CIHI also examined who pays for the healthcare services Canadians receive. In 2022, the public sector is projected to get 72% of total healthcare costs and the private sector 28%. Canadians will pay about 14% with their own money.
In 2021, a new spending category was introduced for COVID-19 treatment and prevention, vaccinations, and medical supplies.
The outbreak of the Omicron strain in January 2022 caused the largest spike in cases in Canada during the pandemic. Canada is still seeing more hospitalizations this fall than last year.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, between September 15 and October 15, an average of about 4,700 people were hospitalized daily in Canadian hospitals because of COVID-19. During the same period last year, the average was only 2,000 per day.
