XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   You bet we are.  Every time the federal government - for the last 8   
   years, the HARPER government - cuts or caps healthcare transfer payments   
   from Ottawa, WE individuals pick up the costs.   
   And still more cuts to healthcare are pending under the Harper Cons.   
   ____________________________________________________   
   CBC News Posted: Apr 16, 2014   
      
      
   Canadians spending more out of pocket on health care   
   Faster increases in spending for lower-income households may result in   
   'inequities,' StatsCan says   
      
      
   Prescription drug expenses were one of the out-of-pocket expenses   
   examined by Statistics Canada over a 12-year period. The report released   
   Wednesday sheds light on how much Canadians are paying for their own   
   health care.   
      
   Canadians' out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs, dental care   
   and insurance premiums rose over a 12-year period for all families,   
   especially people with lower incomes who may have reduced their use of   
   health-care services, a new report suggests.   
      
   Statistics Canada's report, "Trends in out-of-pocket health care   
   expenditures in Canada, by household income, 1997 to 2009," released   
   Wednesday shows the increase in these expenses was greatest for   
   households in the lowest one-fifth of income.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   "What we saw in the data was for the poorest households, the amount that   
   they spent out of pocket, after adjusting for inflation, went from $600   
   to over $1,000," said study co-author Michael Law of the Centre for   
   Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British   
   Columbia.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Lower-income households were more likely than higher-income households   
   to spend more than five per cent of their after-tax income on health   
   care services, Law and his co-authors found.   
      
   About 40 per cent of households in the two lowest income groups spent   
   more than five per cent of their total after-tax income on health-care   
   services, compared with 14 per cent of those in the highest income   
   group.  The spending increase between 1997 and 2009 was greatest for   
   households in the lowest-income group, at 63 per cent.   
      
   "I think without a doubt we're seeing less equity in the system," Law   
   told CBC News.   
      
   "The people that I worry about the most in this are actually the working   
   poor," he said. "I worry about their ability to access prescription   
   drugs," since they have a "relatively low income" and probably don't   
   have benefits through their work.   
      
   Throughout the study period, the three largest components of   
   out-of-pocket health-care expenditures were:   
      
        Dental services.   
        Prescription medications.   
        Insurance premiums.   
      
   In 2009, household spending in those categories averaged $380 (dental),   
   $320 (medications) and $650 (insurance premiums).   
      
   "Faster increases in out-of-pocket spending for lower-income households   
   may have implications for access to health care," the report says."Lack   
   of insurance and the burden of out-of-pocket expenditures have been   
   associated with inequitable use of services such as dental care and   
   prescription medications."   
      
   Earlier this month, Robyn Tamblyn of Montreal's McGill University   
   published a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine of nearly 1,600   
   patients in Quebec who received prescriptions between 2006 and 2009.   
   Overall, 31 per cent of the prescriptions weren't filled and drugs that   
   cost the most were the least likely to be filled.   
      
   The implication is that people who are poorer would skimp on or not fill   
   their prescriptions, Tamblyn said.  That's important because people who   
   are poorer and more likely to have chronic health conditions are also   
   more likely to experience poorer health than those who are better off.   
      
   The new survey of self-reported data covered nearly 98 per cent of the   
   population in the 10 provinces.   
      
   Direct expenditures are those not covered by insurance, such as   
   exclusions, deductibles and expenses over limits. The researchers also   
   excluded reimbursed payments.   
      
   Insurance expenditures included premiums for provincial hospital,   
   medical or drug plans, private health insurance plans, dental plans sold   
   as separate policies, and accident or disability insurance.   
   __________________________   
      
      Trends in out-of-pocket health care expenditures in Canada, by   
   household income, 1997 to 2009   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)