Category Health economics
Guest Post: Comparing Technological Change in the Health and Taxi Industries
Well, here is a guest post forwarded to me by Ruolz Ariste – a colleague whom I originally met during my annual interactions with the CIHI and with whom I have co-authored. Ruolz Ariste is currently pursuing a PhD in Industrial Relations in a program run by run jointly by Université Laval and Université du […]
Becoming Sustainable: The Six Stages of Provincial-Territorial Government Health Spending
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has released its 22nd annual edition of National Health Expenditure Trends covering the period 1975 to 2018 and the basic highlights are as follows: Total health expenditure is expected to reach $253.5 billion or $6,839 per Canadian in 2018. In 2018, total health expenditure is expected to rise […]
It’s time to blunt dentists’ incentives to use general anesthetics
I recently consulted a dentist about getting a tooth extracted. The dentist recommended getting it done under general anesthetic. I responded, "I've had four wisdom tooth extracted under local anesthetic. I've given birth to two children without medication. I think I can handle it." "Ah, but some patients say dental pain is worse than child […]
The Long Restructuring of Ontario’s Health Spending
Ontario’s hospital sector has made a submission to the provincial finance committee making the case that overcrowding has become so serious that there is a need for more funding. They are seeking a 4.55 percent increase in operating funds for the 2018-19 fiscal year in their pre budget submission. According to numbers calculated from data […]
Provincial Government Health Spending: The Force Awakens?
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recently released its 2017 edition of its National Health Expenditure Trends and its worth a trip to its website for the downloadable data on all things related to health spending. I've been on an advisory group to the CIHI with respect to its national health expenditures for a […]
Health Spending and System Characteristics in Canada and Spain
I gave a talk at Memorial University in Newfoundland & Labrador last week sponsored by the Department of Economics and the Collaborative Allied Research in Economics Initiative (CARE). My talk was based on joint research currently underway with David Cantarero Prieto at the University of Cantabria in Spain comparing the determinants of government health spending […]
Add dentists to Millennials’ list of victims
Diamonds. Napkins. Marriage. Relationships. Fashion. All are being killed by Millennials. Now it's the dental industry's turn. Millennials don't visit the dentist – at least not at the rates that their sweet and adorable younger siblings do, or at the rate of their responsible and sensible parents. Now some Millennial reading this might start whining […]
No Health Deal. Now What?
Well, I just finished watching the federal health and finance ministers discuss the failed federal transfer health deal on the news. I suppose coming just a few days before Christmas, a dispute over federal health transfers can become a new sort of Canadian holiday tradition given it has happened before with the December 2011 unilateral […]
New CIHI National Health Expenditure Numbers Out
The Canadian Institute for Health Information has released the latest version of its annual report on public and private health expenditure at both the provincial and federal levels. As always, the CIHI provides a wealth of health data and information resources and its site is an enormous asset to health researchers, health care administrators and […]
Is Ontario Spending Too Little on Hospitals?
Earlier this month, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions issued a media release for their The Fewer Hands, Less Hospital Care report, that made the following statement: “Based on the latest figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Ontario government funding for hospitals is $1,395.73 per capita. The rest of Canada, excluding Ontario, […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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