Manitoba spending more on cancer drugs, says report on rising health-care costs
Ian Froese | CBC News | Posted: November 20, 2018 3:22 AM | Last Updated: November 20, 2018
National report again finds Manitoba's health-care expenditures higher than national average
Nearly 40 per cent of all drugs covered by the Manitoba government are used to fight cancer — a rate significantly higher than anywhere else in the country.
A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information states that 38 per cent of all spending on public drugs in Manitoba in 2017 was earmarked for antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents, which can be used to battle cancer.
This rate is 10 per cent higher than elsewhere in Canada, said the annual report, which also showed that Manitoba is spending more on health care than the national average.
Dan Chateau, research scientist for the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, suggests the difference is because Manitoba is paying for the cancer drugs other provinces are reluctant to.
"That's not a bad thing, but it does increase our costs for sure," Chateau said, referring to the 2012 decision from the province to cover the cost of oral chemotherapy drugs.
CancerCare Manitoba said the province is "somewhat unique" in providing these drugs without requiring a deductible, which increases provincial costs. Manitoba was on the hook for $35.8 million worth of publicly funded cancer drugs in 2017.
Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. figures were not available.
Overall expenditures rising
The new report from CIHI highlighted that Manitoba is poised to once again spend more on health care per person than many of its counterparts.
The province will chip in $7,354 per person to care for its residents this year, a 1.6 per cent spending increase over 2017.
Manitoba is only outpaced in spending by Alberta ($7,552) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($7,443). The national average is $6,839.
"I wouldn't say we should be uncomfortable with it, but again looking at it, if we're third-highest, is there something to be learned here where we can save some money?" Chateau said. "Are there certain aspects of health-care delivery that we can make more efficient?"
The prairie province, however, has reined in its spending by comparison. Manitoba's 1.6 per cent increase is tied for lowest among the nine provinces swelling its health-care budgets.
The Progressive Conservatives have tried to reform the health-care system in Manitoba, after alleging the previous NDP government threw money at the problem to no avail.
Total health expenditures are expected to reach $253.5 billion nationwide, a 4.2 per cent increase from 2017.
Spending linked to economy
As the economy grows, so does health-care spending.
"When we had difficult years in the early '90s, when we had difficult years around 2009, we see health spending challenged," said Michael Hunt, director of health spending, primary care and strategic initiatives at CIHI.
"It's consistent again as we've been travelling with a fairly stable economy here and around the world. We see fairly stable increases in overall health spending."
The three biggest drains on health-care dollars are hospitals, drugs and physicians, according to CIHI's findings.
This year in Manitoba, an average of $2,275 per person is forecasted to pay for hospitals, $1,077 for physician spending and $841 for drugs.
None of the three categories generated more than a 1.8 per cent funding increase year-over-year, which no other province can say.
Hunt couldn't explain the regional disparity, but he said many factors are responsible for rising costs overall, including demographics and the cost of supplying services to rural areas.
Nationally, public drug spending increased 4.6 per cent in 2017, attributed partially to the price of new, expensive drugs and Canada's greying population.
The largest drug expenses are the medications to battle rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease, which cost the public purse $1.1 billion annually.