Wait times costing billions, joint CMA-BCMA study shows

Jun 28, 2006

According to the joint CMA (Canadian Medical Association) and BCMA (British Columbia Medical Association) study, the wait list times are costing the Canadian medical system billions of taxpayers dollars. The study determined that:

the cumulative economic cost of waiting for treatment in those four provinces and for only those procedures will total more than $1.8 billion in 2006;

the costs to the provincial and federal governments in terms of reduced revenue because of the reduction in economic activity due to these wait times is $500 million ($300 million federal, $200 million provincial).

The study can be viewed here (in PDF format):

CMA Wait Times Study
More information at the CMA website: www.cma.ca

Brian Day

tel: (604) 874 1349
fax: (604) 874 1549

2836 Ash Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V5Z 3C6