Arithmetic failure and the myth of the unsustainability of universal health insurance

Figure 1: Medicare and total government health care expenditures in Quebec during fiscal years 1975–2006, as shares of program spending (government budgetary expenditures, less debt-servicing costs) and government income. Data points centre on fiscal years, which end on March 31. Sources: Ministère des Finances du Québec, 2006–2007 Budget Plan, Table 3.1.1;9 and Canadian Institute for Health Information, National Health Expenditure Trends, 1975–2006, Table B.4.4.8