Canadian healthcare costs to surpass $183B

OTTAWA, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The cost of healthcare in Canada is forecast to rise 5.5 percent to $183 billion this year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information said Thursday.

"This represents a forecast increase of $241 per Canadian, bringing total health expenditure per capita to an estimated $5,452 this year," the report said.

Hospitals remain the top expense, followed by drugs and doctors, although the relative shares among them is changing, the report said.

Hospitals are expected this year to account for 27.8 percent, or $51 billion of total healthcare spending, down from 44.7 percent in 1975.

Spending on prescribed and non-prescribed medications is expected to make up an estimated 16.4 percent, or $30 billion of the total, which is nearly double from 1979.

"Spending on physicians is expected to grow at an estimated annual growth rate of 8.8 percent this year," the report said. "This is higher than the forecast growth rates for hospitals and drugs, which are each estimated to grow by 5.1 percent."