Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy_eoj
Healthcare spending in Alberta has grown at an ANNUAL rate of 10% in the perioud 2000-2010, or over 200% in that time-frame. In 2000, Alberta spent about the same as the rest of Canada on healthcare, and now we spend about 20% more on average. The single largest component of that increase is in salary costs.
Meanwhile health outcomes (waiting times, access to specialists, etc.) have not improved, mainly staying flat. As you have noted, it doesn't seem that these increases in spending have made a difference on the front line for workers.
This system is clearly broken. We cannot afford to increase public spending on health care 10% year over year forever without seeing any improvement in outcomes or working conditions. Simply assuming more taxes and more spending will solve the problem doesn't make any sense at all, as it hasn't made a difference over the past decade.
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Using raw numbers as a means of arguing your point is pointless and provides for no context. During those years, there were a few things that were happening, the first being that there was a large population increase in the province of Alberta due to the Oil and Gas sector. This population increase requires more healthcare staff in order to run the health care system... especially since it is a healthcare system that was gutted in the 90s under the Klein administration.
https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products...sReport_EN.pdf