Alberta slightly below national average in health-care spending

A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Alberta will spend an estimated $38.7 billion on health care in 2022.

The spending equates to an average of $8,545 per Albertan, $18 less per person than the national average. It also represents a 3.5 per cent decrease in Alberta's health care costs per person compared to 2021.

The main factor in the decline is a 74.8 per cent decrease in COVID-19 response funding.

"Almost a year ago, this government kind of basically said COVID is over and they weren't putting the resources into facilitating hospitalizations, facilitating the care requirements," said AUPE vice president Bonnie Gostola.

"It’s rather indicative of the insistence on the Alberta government breaking our healthcare system," said Bev Muendel-Atherstone, chair of the Lethbridge chapter of Friends of Medicare.

Despite the overall drop in year-over-year expenditures, the CIHI found that administration costs in Alberta rose by 9.6 per cent - the most significant uptick out of any other listed category in the report.

"It's from the government themselves firing people and paying them severance pay," said Muendel-Atherstone.

"Whenever the government fires people, then they have to pay some kind of funding to them for getting rid of them early – for breaking their contract. And that is what we see in administration costs."

Premier Danielle Smith has said she plans to restructure Alberta Health Services, including firing the AHS board, by year-end.

Hospitals, physicians and drugs account for roughly 52 per cent of the $38.7 billion total in Alberta. A full breakdown of health-care costs by category can be found here.

Alberta's total expenditures place the province fifth out of the 13 provinces and territories. 

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have the highest health-care costs per capita, with averages of $21,978 and $21,946, respectively.