Typical Canadian family now pays almost 10% of their household income
The cost of healthcare for a typical Canadian family has increased by more than 65.8% in the last 20 years.
While most Canadians don’t see the amount they pay for healthcare as a bill for medical services, the amount paid through federal taxes and health insurance ‘premium’ tax, amounts to a sizeable share of average household income.
A study by the Fraser Institute reveals that a family of two adults and two children, earning the average household income of $140,049 will pay $13,311 for public health care in 2019.
The 65.8% increase since 1997 is adjusted for inflation.
For single Canadians, their health-care costs have more than doubled from $2,150 (in 2019 dollars) in 1997 to $4,544 this year.
“Despite misleading claims of Canada’s ‘free’ health-care system, Canadians actually pay a substantial amount of money for health care through a variety of taxes—even if they don’t pay directly for medical services,” said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Price of Public Health Care Insurance, 2019.
Variations
The amount Canadian families pay for health care varies widely depending on their income.
The 10% of families with the lowest incomes (earning $15,070 per household, on average) will pay $464 for health care in 2019, while families among the top 10% of income earners (earning a household income of $298,872, on average) will pay $39,486, the study shows.
“Only when Canadians understand how much we pay for our public health-care system can we better decide whether or not we get good value for our money,” Barua said.
NEW STUDY: Canadian health care isn't free—annual health-care costs for a typical Canadian family eclipse $13,000 this year.
— The Fraser Institute (@FraserInstitute) August 8, 2019
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