Battle on over health spending figures
Date: Aug. 20, 1999
Time: 11:21 am
The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) questions the relevance of recent data indicating that the province is second in per capita health spending in Canada. "The nature of statistics is such that if low users of the health care system leave, our per capita spending will rise even if we are spending less per visit on those who frequently access the system," said Dr. Ian Smith, the NLMA president.
Smith was responding to a recent newspaper report that quoted Canadian Institute of Health Information data showing that the province had jumping from seventh to second place in terms of per capita spending on health care. The CIHI data indicate that Newfoundland and Labrador spent $1780.65 per capita on health care in 1998, up from $1518.92 in 1992.
"When ranking health care spending on a per capita basis, we must remember that method is made up of two components -- spending and population," added Smith. "This province has seen a significant reduction in population and that alone will have an impact on the per capita spending."
The Newfoundland government is considerably more enthusiastic about the figures and considers them a sign of things to come. "The Department of Health and Community Services anticipates it will hold its place as a high spender of health dollars per capita again in 1999," a government press release said yesterday. "At $1.2 billion for the 1999/2000 fiscal year, the departmental budget continues to be the highest expenditure of all government departments."
Smith warns that the per capita spending figures don't tell the whole story.
"We are seeing an exodus of young, healthy people who are relatively light users of the health care system," said Smith. "That leaves our province with an aging population and people tend to require health care services more in their older years."
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