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The Fiscal Sustainability of Alberta's Public Health Care System

Author

Listed:
  • Livio Di Matteo

    (Department of Economics, Lakehead University)

  • Rosanna Di Matteo

Abstract

The long-term fiscal sustainability of Canada’s publicly funded provincial health care systems is under pressure from an aging population, expensive technological advances, and expanding coverage that is pushing up against constraints on provincial government revenues. Alberta, for example, enjoys the benefit of energy royalties, but the volatility of this bounty has been high-lighted by the recent collapse in energy prices and the loss of upwards of $6 billion in resource royalties. Other provincial governments enjoy more stable sources of revenue but are constrained in their health care choices by heavier tax burdens and larger public debt loads. This paper examines the challenges faced by governments as they attempt to satisfy the needs of the public today, without compromising the needs of future generations.

Suggested Citation

  • Livio Di Matteo & Rosanna Di Matteo, 2009. "The Fiscal Sustainability of Alberta's Public Health Care System," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 2(2), April.
    • Handle: RePEc:clh:resear:v:2:y:2009:i:2
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    File URL: https://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dimatteo-online-apr-09.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. J.C. Herbert Emery & David Still & Tom Cottrell, 2012. "Can We Avoid a Sick Fiscal Future? The Non-Sustainability of Health-Care Spending on an Aging Population," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 5(31), October.
    2. Livio Di Matteo, 2010. "The sustainability of public health expenditures: evidence from the Canadian federation," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(6), pages 569-584, December.
    3. François Béland & Co-director Solidage, 2012. "Health Care Expenditures, Public Administration and the Business Cycle," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 297, McMaster University.

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