Frasier institute, Web Media
VANCOUVER — A typical Canadian family of four will pay an estimated $21,115 through taxes for public health care this year, according to a new study from the Fraser Institute.
The public policy think-tank estimates a family consisting of two parents and two children, with an average household income of $202,885, will pay more than $21,000 toward the public health-care system in 2026.
The estimate does not represent a direct health insurance premium or bill paid by families. Instead, the study calculates the share of various taxes used by governments to finance public health care.
“Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for public health care through a variety of taxes, even if we don’t pay directly for medical services,” said Nadeem Esmail, the institute’s director of health policy studies and a co-author of the report.
The study estimates couples without dependent children will pay $19,225 toward public health care this year, while a single Canadian will pay $6,464. A single parent with one child is estimated to pay $6,966.
The Fraser Institute says determining how much individual households pay for public health care can be difficult because the system is largely financed from general government revenues rather than through a dedicated health-care tax.
The report also examined how the estimated cost has changed over nearly three decades.
According to the institute, the cost of public health care insurance for an average Canadian family has grown faster than household income since 1997, the first year covered by its data.
The study says the estimated cost increased 2.3 times as fast as food costs and 1.5 times as fast as housing costs over the period. It also grew 1.7 times as fast as average income.
Esmail said understanding the estimated cost of the system gives taxpayers another measure for assessing its performance and value.
“Understanding how much Canadians actually pay for health care, and how much that amount has increased over time, is an important first step for taxpayers to assess the value and performance of the government health-care system,” he said.
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