How Healthy Is Our Health Care Spending?

Source: National Health Expenditure Trends, 1975 to 2008, Canadian Institute for Health Information, www.cihi.ca

• Canada's 2008 health care spending: $171.8 billion, up 6.4 percent from $161.5 billion in 2007.
• The largest component of health care spending: hospitals, at $48.1 billion (28 percent), down from 30.7 percent in 1998 and 44.7 percent in 1975.
• The second largest component: pharmaceuticals, at $29.8 billion (17.4 percent), up from 15.0 percent in 1998 and 8.8 percent in 1975.
• The third largest component: payments to physicians, at $23 billion (13.4 percent), a share relatively stable since 1999.
• Spending on prescription and non-prescription drugs is growing faster than spending on hospitals or physicians.
 
 
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