While no politician seems to want to touch this issue with a ten foot pole, our health care system is in trouble.

Report after report has highlighted our relatively poor performance measures, increasing costs and growing inefficiencies.

Well here's the latest one.

According to a new study by the Fraser Institute — titled The Price of Public Health Care Insurance: 2013 Edition — the average Canadian household now pays approximately $7,860 in taxes for 'health care insurance.' That's a jump of 53.3 per cent (before inflation) from 2003.

Family composition Average cash income Tax bill for public health care insurance
Unattached individuals $39,039 $3,780
2 adults, 0 children $99,226 $11,381
2 adults, 1 child $108,609 $10,989
2 adults, 2 children $113,247 $11,320
1 adult, 1 child $49,619 $3,905
1 adult, 2 children $49,372 $3,387

The study claims that the cost of health care insurance is in fact increasing at a far greater rate than other expenditures: Since 2003, the cost of clothing only jumped 32.4 per cent, the cost of food only jumped 23.4 per cent and the cost of shelter went up by 34.2 per cent.

"The large gaps between the growth rates of spending on the necessities of life and that of public health care insurance provide important insight into the increasing cost of health care for Canadian individuals and families," notes the report.

"Our hope is that these figures will enable Canadians to more clearly understand just how much they pay for public health care insurance, and how that amount is changing over time. With a more precise estimate of what they really pay, Canadians will be in a better position to decide whether they are getting a good return on the money they spend on health care."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/health-care-insurance-costs-skyrocket-canada-system-unsustainable-182904579.html