Manitoba spending more on cancer drugs, says report on rising health-care costs

Nearly 40 per cent of alldrugs covered by the Manitoba government are used tofight cancer a rate significantly higher than anywhere else in the country.

A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information statesthat 38 per cent of all spending on public drugs in Manitoba in 2017 was earmarked forantineoplastic and immunomodulating agents, which can be used tobattle cancer.

This rate is10 per cent higher than elsewhere in Canada, said the annual report, which also showed that Manitoba is spendingmore on health carethan the national average.

Dan Chateau, research scientist for the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, suggests the difference is because Manitoba is paying for the cancer drugs other provinces are reluctant to.

"That's not a bad thing, but it does increase our costs for sure,"Chateau said, referring to the 2012 decision from the province to cover the cost oforal chemotherapy drugs.

CancerCare Manitoba said the province is "somewhat unique" in providing these drugs without requiring a deductible, whichincreases provincial costs.Manitoba was on the hook for $35.8 million worth of publicly funded cancer drugsin 2017.

Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. figures were notavailable.

Overall expenditures rising

The new report from CIHIhighlighted that Manitoba ispoisedto once again spend more on health care per person than many of its counterparts.

The province will chip in$7,354 per person to care for its residents this year, a 1.6 per cent spending increase over 2017.

Manitoba is only outpaced in spending by Alberta ($7,552) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($7,443). The national average is $6,839.

"I wouldn't say we should be uncomfortable with it, but again looking at it, if we're third-highest,is there something to be learned here where we can save some money?" Chateau said. "Are there certain aspects of health-care delivery that we can make more efficient?"

The prairie province, however, has reinedin its spending by comparison. Manitoba's 1.6 per centincrease is tied forlowest among the nine provinces swelling its health-care budgets.

The Progressive Conservatives have tried to reform the health-care system in Manitoba, after alleging the previous NDPgovernment threw money at the problem to no avail.

Total health expendituresare expected to reach $253.5 billion nationwide, a 4.2 per cent increase from 2017.

Spending linked to economy

As the economy grows, so does health-care spending.

"When we had difficult years in the early '90s, when we had difficult years around2009, we see health spending challenged,"saidMichael Hunt, director of health spending, primary care and strategic initiatives atCIHI.

"It's consistent again as we've been travelling with a fairly stable economy here and around the world. We see fairly stable increases in overall health spending."

The three biggest drains on health-care dollars are hospitals, drugs and physicians, according to CIHI's findings.

This year in Manitoba, an average of $2,275 per person is forecasted to pay for hospitals,$1,077 for physician spending and $841 for drugs.

None of the three categories generated more than a1.8 per cent funding increase year-over-year, which no other province can say.

Hunt couldn't explain the regional disparity, but he said many factors are responsiblefor rising costs overall, including demographicsand the cost of supplying services to rural areas.

Nationally, public drug spending increased 4.6 per cent in 2017, attributed partially to the price of new, expensive drugs and Canada's greying population.

The largest drug expenses are themedications to battle rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease, which costthe public purse $1.1 billion annually.