Medical wait instances price Canadian sufferers virtually $3.6 billion in misplaced wages final 12 months

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Could 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lengthy waits for surgical procedure and medical therapy price Canadians virtually $3.6 billion in misplaced wages and productiveness final 12 months, finds a brand new examine launched as we speak by the Fraser Institute, an impartial, non-partisan Canadian public coverage think-tank.

Preliminary information recommend that an estimated 1.2 million sufferers waited for medically mandatory therapy final 12 months, and every misplaced an estimated $2,925 (on common) as a consequence of misplaced wages and decreased productiveness throughout working hours.

“Ready for medically mandatory therapy stays a trademark of the Canadian health-care system, and along with elevated ache and struggling—and doubtlessly worse medical outcomes—these lengthy waits additionally price Canadians time at work and with household and buddies,” mentioned Bacchus Barua, director of well being coverage research on the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 2023.

The examine attracts upon information from the Fraser Institute’s annual Ready Your Flip survey of Canadian physicians who, in 2022, reported the nationwide median ready time from specialist appointment to therapy was 14.8 weeks.

Crucially, the $3.6 billion in misplaced wages is probably going a conservative estimate as a result of it doesn’t account for the extra 12.6-week wait to see a specialist after receiving a referral from a basic practitioner.

Taken collectively (12.6 and 14.8 weeks), the whole median wait time in Canada for medical therapy was 27.4 weeks in 2022—the longest within the survey’s historical past.

“So long as prolonged wait instances outline Canada’s health-care system, sufferers will proceed to pay a worth in misplaced wages and decreased high quality of life,” mentioned Mackenzie Moir, Fraser Institute coverage analyst and examine co-author.

As a result of wait instances and incomes fluctuate by province, so does the price of ready for well being care. Residents of Manitoba in 2022 confronted the very best per-patient price of ready ($4,463), adopted by Nova Scotia ($4,230) and New Brunswick ($3,691).

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Common worth of time misplaced in the course of the work week in 2022 for sufferers ready for medically mandatory therapy (by province):

MEDIA CONTACT:
Bacchus Barua, Director, Well being Coverage Research
Fraser Institute

Mackenzie Moir, Coverage Analyst, Well being Coverage Research
Fraser Institute

To rearrange media interviews or for extra data, please contact:
Bryn Weese, Fraser Institute
604-688-0221 ext. 589
[email protected]

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The Fraser Institute is an impartial Canadian public coverage analysis and academic group with places of work in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a world community of think-tanks in 87 nations. Its mission is to enhance the standard of life for Canadians, their households and future generations by finding out, measuring and broadly speaking the results of presidency insurance policies, entrepreneurship and selection on their well-being. To guard the Institute’s independence, it doesn’t settle for grants from governments or contracts for analysis. Go to www.fraserinstitute.org.