B.C. is consistently ranked as having one of the best health care systems in Canada. We've made huge reforms and investments in our approach to both prevention and treatment of disease. The B.C. Liberal government is continuing to increase funding for health over the next three years – in fact, 90 per cent of all new provincial spending is for health care.
Challenges and Opportunities:
There are significant challenges to be addressed in health care. Ten years ago health care accounted for 35 per cent of all government spending. Today it’s 44 per cent and that number is climbing steadily. We also have a rapidly aging population. In just over two decades, one in four British Columbians will be over 65. As a result the demands on the system are increasing at exponential rates.
Discussion:
What is the right proportion of total spending that government should put to healthcare? Should government focus more money on proactive prevention to reduce our needs in the coming decades, and if so how should we balance those investments against what we also need to invest in direct treatment? Are there smarter ways of getting better performance out of our current system, for example having per-patient funding rather than 'block' funding to hospitals?
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All traffic fine revenue returned to cities annually
Provincial income tax eliminated for a quarter million low-income people
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Agreements providing social and economic opportunities for First Nations
B.C. Liberal Government signed modern treaties with six First Nations
Aboriginal unemployment a third lower than in 2001
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B.C.'s first new regional hospital in 30 years built in Abbotsford
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Twice as many doctors being trained in B.C. than in 1990s
North America's most progressive climate action plan, praised by climatologists and economists
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B.C. government providing more home support care hours than ever before
B.C. Liberal government created seven new universities
