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Contrary to the claims of Janice MacKinnon,1 the most recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for 2002, show that Canada ranked sixth, not third, in terms of health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) (data available through OECD Web site at www.oecd.org/home/).
Furthermore, Canada is the only OECD country where health spending as a percentage of GDP actually declined over the past decade (from 10% in 1992 to 9.6% in 2002). By contrast, health spending as a percentage of GDP in the United States (with its multitude of user pay schemes) increased from 13% in 1992 to 14.6% in 2002.
Reference
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