February 2001
February Questions & Answers and February Graph
by Joel Emes
Q: How has the composition of health care spending changed over the last
25 years?
A: The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) divides total health care expenditures into seven categories: hospitals, capital, physicians, other institutions, other professionals, other health spending, and drugs. The shares of total health care spending going to hospitals, capital, and physicians decreased between 1975 and 2000; the shares of total health care spending going to the other four spending categories increased. Hospitals show the largest drop; from 44.7 percent of total health care spending in 1975 to 31.8 percent in 2000. Drugs show the largest increase; from 8.8 percent of total health care spending in 1975 to 15.5 percent in 2000. Table 1 shows total health care spending by category for 1975 through 2000.
Q: How has private health care spending as a percentage of total health care spending changed over the last 25 years?
A: Spending on private health care was 23.8 percent of total health care spending in 1975, and represented 1.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Private health care spending reached 29.9 percent of total health care spending in 1998 (2.8 percent of GDP) and is estimated to have fallen to 28.9 percent of total health care spending for 2000 (2.7 percent of GDP). Table 2 and this month's graph show private, public, and total health care spending for 1975 through 2000.
|
Table 1: Total Health Care Expenditure by Category |
|||||||||||||||
|
Hospitals |
Capital |
Physicians |
Other |
Other |
Other health spending |
Drugs |
Total health spending |
||||||||
|
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
$ millions |
% of total |
||
|
1975 |
5,455 |
44.7 |
536 |
4.4 |
1,840 |
15.1 |
1,124 |
9.2 |
1,095 |
9.0 |
1,075 |
8.8 |
1,076 |
8.8 |
12,201 |
|
1980 |
9,334 |
41.8 |
991 |
4.4 |
3,288 |
14.7 |
2,545 |
11.4 |
2,260 |
10.1 |
2,010 |
9.0 |
1,882 |
8.4 |
22,309 |
|
1985 |
16,258 |
40.8 |
1,658 |
4.2 |
6,047 |
15.2 |
4,106 |
10.3 |
4,132 |
10.4 |
3,865 |
9.7 |
3,793 |
9.5 |
39,859 |
|
1990 |
23,820 |
39.0 |
2,124 |
3.5 |
9,246 |
15.1 |
5,758 |
9.4 |
6,494 |
10.6 |
6,802 |
11.1 |
6,882 |
11.3 |
61,125 |
|
1995 |
25,699 |
34.5 |
2,172 |
2.9 |
10,595 |
14.2 |
7,317 |
9.8 |
8,592 |
11.5 |
10,161 |
13.6 |
9,998 |
13.4 |
74,534 |
|
1998 |
27,638 |
32.9 |
2,186 |
2.6 |
11,687 |
13.9 |
8,045 |
9.6 |
10,240 |
12.2 |
11,774 |
14.0 |
12,385 |
14.8 |
83,955 |
|
1999f |
28,631 |
32.2 |
2,886 |
3.2 |
12,199 |
13.7 |
8,492 |
9.5 |
10,734 |
12.1 |
12,584 |
14.1 |
13,491 |
15.2 |
89,017 |
|
2000f |
30,236 |
31.8 |
3,443 |
3.6 |
12,798 |
13.5 |
8,937 |
9.4 |
11,249 |
11.8 |
13,756 |
14.5 |
14,708 |
15.5 |
95,127 |
|
Percent increase |
454 |
(28.9) |
542 |
(17.6) |
596 |
(10.8) |
695 |
2.0 |
928 |
31.8 |
1,180 |
64.2 |
1,267 |
75.3 |
680 |
|
f = forecast |
|||||||||||||||
|
Table 2: Private and Public Health Care Spending in Canada |
||||||||
|
Private spending |
Private spending (% of GDP) |
Public spending |
Public spending (% of GDP) |
Total health spending |
Total health spending |
Private share |
Public share |
|
|
1975 |
2,899 |
1.7 |
9,301 |
5.4 |
12,201 |
7.1 |
23.8 |
76.2 |
|
1980 |
5,457 |
1.8 |
16,852 |
5.4 |
22,309 |
7.2 |
24.5 |
75.5 |
|
1985 |
9,747 |
2.0 |
30,112 |
6.2 |
39,859 |
8.2 |
24.5 |
75.5 |
|
1990 |
15,577 |
2.3 |
45,548 |
6.7 |
61,125 |
9.0 |
25.5 |
74.5 |
|
1995 |
21,562 |
2.7 |
52,972 |
6.6 |
74,534 |
9.2 |
28.9 |
71.1 |
|
1998 |
25,106 |
2.8 |
58,849 |
6.5 |
83,955 |
9.3 |
29.9 |
70.1 |
|
1999f |
26,239 |
2.7 |
62,778 |
6.6 |
89,017 |
9.3 |
29.5 |
70.5 |
|
2000f |
27,539 |
2.7 |
67,588 |
6.6 |
95,127 |
9.3 |
28.9 |
71.1 |
|
f = forecast |
||||||||
February Graph
Joel Emes (joele@fraserinstitute.ca) is Senior Research Economist at The Fraser Institute. He has an M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University.
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