hypocritexposer
Well-known member
Thought this was an interesting article. And it brings up some questions.
If the taxes were lowered for the higher income earners, and private medical clinics were available in Canada, would it take the pressure (waiting times, financial, etc) off the public system?
What would the financial breakeven point be.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/777863
If the taxes were lowered for the higher income earners, and private medical clinics were available in Canada, would it take the pressure (waiting times, financial, etc) off the public system?
What would the financial breakeven point be.
The true cost of Medicare for individuals and families in Canada is often misunderstood, with many thinking health care is either free or covered by what we pay for our respective provincial health insurance coverage. It is critically important, however, that Canadians understand the true cost of Medicare. Armed with a more meaningful estimate, Canadians will be able to better assess whether or not they are receiving value for their health care dollars.
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A more informative measure of the cost of our health care system is health expenditures per person. The $115 billion presented above works out to approximately $3,498 per Canadian. This would be the cost of the public health care insurance plan if every Canadian resident paid an equal share. But some Canadians are children and dependents and thus are not taxpayers, and Canadians certainly do not pay equal amounts.
So how much do we really pay as individuals and families for our Medicare system?
In order to determine a more precise estimate of the cost of public health care insurance for the average Canadian family in 2008, we must determine how much an average family is expected to contribute in taxes to all three levels of government. The percentage of the family's total tax bill that pays for public health insurance is then assumed to match the share of total government tax revenues (including natural resource revenues) dedicated to health care (22.6 per cent in 2007/2008).
Breaking down the Canadian population into 10 income groups (income figures are pre-tax) makes it possible to show what families from various income brackets will pay for public health care insurance in 2008:
* Average cash income of $11,309; $389 paid for public health care insurance.
* Average cash income of $24,271; $1,076 paid.
* Average cash income of $32,866; $2,214 paid.
* Average cash income of $41,637; $3,449 paid.
* Average cash income of $51,298; $4,862 paid.
* Average cash income of $64,415; $6,245 paid.
* Average cash income of $78,430; $7,750 paid.
* Average cash income of $96,217; $9,873 paid.
* Average cash income of $122,321; $12,877 paid.
* Average cash income of $232,739; $29,575 paid for public health care insurance.
Looking by common family types, this calculation finds that the estimated average payment for public health care insurance in 2008 was:
* $9,572 for the average two-adult family;
* $9,855 for the average two-adult, one-child family;
* $10,191 for the average two-adult, two-child family; and
* $3,484 for the average unattached (single) individual.
It is critical to recognize that these estimates count only the direct costs of Medicare. They do not count administrative costs subsumed by other government departments that support health care through activities such as tax collection, or other privately borne costs related to the financing and operation of Medicare, such as tax compliance, or the private burden of waiting for health care.
Nadeem Esmail is the Fraser Institute's Director of Health System Performance Studies.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/777863