Posted by Michael Wonder on 11 Oct 2016
Cutting through the numbers on health-care funding
11 October 2016 - One of the truisms of Canadian political discourse is that the federal government grossly underfunds health care. Ottawa’s health transfers, the argument goes, only cover about 20 per cent of medicare spending.
This year, the cash transfer for health is $34-billion; the provinces and territories will spend $155-billion in public money on health – or 22 per cent. (Total health spending, however, will be $219-billion; 30 per cent of health spending is private.)
When medicare began, the argument continues, Ottawa committed to pay 50 per cent of health spending. Ergo, the provinces are being ripped off big time.
