When the Ball
government announced a cut of 93 positions in the health care system last
week, for savings of $7.6 million, budget watchers expressed sympathy for the
56 employees actually let go but, otherwise, waited for the next shoe to drop.
And with
good reason.
Health care
consumes 36% of an $8.5 billion operating account — spending on the day-to-day operation of programs
and services (source: Budget Update). $1.58B of that sum constitutes deficit —
the shortfall between cost and the revenues available to pay for them. The
difference is financed by government’s borrowing program.
Health care’s
proportionate share of the deficit this year — alone — amounts to $569 million.
The sum is in addition to the borrowing done by the health Boards directly (several
million) which only shows up on the government’s books in the “Total Debt”.
And a full accounting of health care’s cost should include infrastructure — the amount applied to the capital account. Putting those sources of health care deficit together you would discover a shortfall well in excess of $600 million per year.
But, for the sake of clarity, we'll just stick with just the operating deficit.
But, for the sake of clarity, we'll just stick with just the operating deficit.
It would seem
sensible to assume that other sectors of government can’t absorb overspending
by health care. So what does this mean for the health care system?
