December 19, 2014 – Saskatchewan faces a $79 billion fiscal burden – the future tax bill for increased healthcare costs over the next half-century – and should prepare now for the coming demographic squeeze, says a report released today from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Managing the Costs of Healthcare for an Aging Population: Good—and Bad—News About Saskatchewan’s Fiscal Glacier,” authors William B.P. Robson, Colin Busby and Aaron Jacobs recommend changes to protect young Saskatchewanians from the burden they will otherwise bear as the tax base grows more slowly and healthcare costs rise.
“While Saskatchewan still faces a daunting fiscal challenge, its fiscal stresses appear to be less than those confronted by the rest of the country,” remarked Busby. Robson added, “There are areas the province can improve on, like converting its age-based drug coverage to income based, which would make drug coverage more equitable for all citizens and reduce the sensitivity of public drug costs to an aging population.”
The authors find that in order for Saskatchewan to meet the future demands of healthcare and other demographically sensitive programs, the province will have to nearly double its tax take. The report rejects higher federal transfers as a solution, noting that past boosts in federal funding have discouraged reforms that would have made provincial healthcare more sustainable.
Other recommendations to improve the sustainability of Saskatchewan’s healthcare system include:
- Incorporate team-based primary care models where patients can get comprehensive non-major services from an organized group of healthcare professionals;
- Let less expensive medical providers, such as nurse practitioners, deliver simple services that are currently performed by more expensive doctors;
- Practice “lean” management processes that minimize waste;
- Foster improvements in, and more use of, non-hospital care for seniors with long-term conditions; and
- Benchmark against other provinces’ best practices in areas where Saskatchewan spends relatively more.
Click here for the full report.
The C. D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research institute whose mission is to raise living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. It is Canada’s trusted source of essential policy intelligence, distinguished by research that is nonpartisan, evidence-based and subject to definitive expert review. It is considered by many to be Canada’s most influential think tank.
For more information contact: William B.P. Robson, President and CEO, and Colin Busby, Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute, at 416-865-1904; E-mail: kmurphy@cdhowe.org.