Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger

Health care is done by the Provinces in Canada, with transfers from the Federal Government to help out. The most recent Alberta budget[0] puts the cost of health care at about $20B. This represents approximately 40% of Alberta government spending.

Is that due to waste or inefficiencies? I honestly have no idea. I just know that it's a big number.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, at least in Canada, the government provides some base amount of health services, but there are still other things that aren't covered. In Alberta, someone might go to the ER for a severe asthma attack and that's covered, but the prescriptions to keep the asthma under control are paid for out of pocket or from a benefit plan (which could be an individual plan or through an employer). Similarly, dental is not covered, but may be covered under a benefit plan.

[0] http://finance.alberta.ca/publications/budget/budget2016/fis...

Worth considering:

Per http://www.chcf.org/publications/2016/05/health-care-costs-1...

> US health spending reached $3.0 trillion in 2014, or $9,523 per capita, and accounted for 17.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Population of Alberta is around 4,196,457 per a statscan estimate for 2015.

4,196,457 * 9,523 = 39962860011

So we're spending ~20,000,000,000 CAD = ~15.5 Billion USD, versus 39,962,860,011 USD for the same population in the US.

edit: The US number seems to include prescription drug spending. Per http://www.statista.com/statistics/436305/medication-spendin..., it's $867 per person in Alberta, or $3,638,328,219 CAD -- so it's closer to $18.5 Billion USD for health spending in Alberta.

That's a better deal any way you look at it, especially when you bear in mind that Canada has better overall outcomes than the US.