Finlayson G, Ekuma O, Yogendran M, Burland E, Forget E. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2010.

Researchers at the University of Manitoba compared the costs of healthcare for people with arthritis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke over a two-year period. The report compares what it costs the province to provide healthcare to individuals with one of these conditions with individuals who do not have the condition. Spending on average for all Manitobans without one of the chronic condition studied is about $4,000 per person over two years. Spending on Manitobans with a chronic condition is from twice as much for asthma and COPD to six times as much for people who have had a stroke. The report also breaks-down costs by looking at physician services, inpatient and day surgery, hospital care, prescription drugs, home care and nursing homes for each of these conditions. One of the most interesting findings of this research is that the cost of treating chronic disease is different throughout the province. After considering age, sex, and other influencing factors, people who were treated for similar conditions had different costs for healthcare depending upon where they lived. These differences are not caused by the actual cost of providing services because these values have been equalized - they're caused by using services differently. The report includes important information that will be useful for health and social policy makers in the province to determine the potential impact of healthcare costs for programs designed to reduce the incidence of chronic disease.

Links:

• Full Report (PDF)
  Summary (PDF)
  Media Release (PDF)
  

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