The Funding of Long-Term Care in Canada: What Do We Know, What Should We Know?

ABSTRACTLong-term care is a growing component of health care spending but how much is spent or who bears the cost is uncertain, and the measures vary depending on the source used. We drew on regularly published series and ad hoc publications to compile preferred estimates of the share of long-term care spending in total health care spending, the private share of long-term care spending, and the share of residential care within long-term care. For each series, we compared estimates obtainable from published sources (CIHI [Canadian Institute for Health Information] and OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development]) with our preferred estimates. We conclude that using published series without adjustment would lead to spurious conclusions on the level and evolution of spending on long-term care in Canada as well as on the distribution of costs between private and public funders and between residential and home care.