Manitoba has highest increase in health-care spending

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When it comes to increases in overall health-care spending, Manitoba is number one out of the provinces, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The report shows Manitoba increased its spending on doctors by nearly seven per cent this year, the highest growth rate in Canada, including the territories, by a long shot.

The news comes as Premier Brian Pallister and the Progressive Conservatives seek to control spending in all areas, which they argue became out of control under the former NDP government.

The province recently ordered a report from KPMG on health-care innovation and sustainability to look at ways to make the health-care system more efficient. A value-for-money review is also underway to identify waste and inefficiency in government and to recommend ways of improving service delivery.

The annual report by the independent, non-profit corporation on national health expenditure trends also reported Manitoba is the province with the second highest growth in per capita spending on hospitals and with the third highest per capita drug spending growth.

In 2016, Manitoba spent 6.9 per cent more on physicians than it did in 2015, almost double the second-highest province, Newfoundland-Labrador, which spent 3.5 per cent more the year.

The yearly report shows overall, the rate of growth of total health expenditure in 2016 in Canada is expected to be 2.7 per cent.

Michael Hunt, CIHI’s director of health spending, said this overall increase in spending nationwide of 2.7 per cent will not keep pace with the rate of inflation and population growth combined — a continuation of a trend that began in 2009, with the economic downturn.

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"Everywhere is focusing on limiting increasing in expenditure and that is a reflection of what happened starting in 2009 with the economy. When the economy is robust, you invest, when the economy is not so robust, you don’t," he said.

Hunt couldn’t say exactly why Manitoba spending increased in 2016 in these areas, but said an aging population is a factor as well the cost of supplying services to sparsely populated areas in Manitoba.

"There is significant cost to this, so if you look at what goes on in the territories, there are transportation costs, moving patients," he said.

Manitoba’s total health expenditure per capita was $7,120 for 2016, an increase of 3.9 per cent from last year. While it is the highest increase from 2015, Newfoundland-Labrador is spending a touch more per capita, at $7,256. Newfoundland-Labrador increased its over health spending by 2.6 per cent this year.

Health expenditure per capita in other areas is highest in the territories because of, among other things, their large geographical areas and low populations, according to the report.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @kristinannable

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