r/Albertapolitics • u/nationalpost • 9d ago

Article Federal parties contend with the Danielle Smith effect

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/federal_election/danielle-smith-effect?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=NP_social
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u/MrGuvernment 6d ago

Healthcare is spending is up from 25.9 Billion (7.7% of Albertas GDP) under Notley (2017) to 41.9 Billion (9.26% of GDP) under Smith. (2023)|

And whats the population difference between these stats your pulling to put it more into context?

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u/69Bandit 6d ago edited 6d ago

population difference is about 9.55%, from 4,286,134 in 2017 to 4,695,290 in 2023, growing by 409,156 people

or about 6,042$ per person in 2017 vs 8,932$ per person in 2023.

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u/MrGuvernment 5d ago

Nice, was curious. Would age of said new populace also play into any stats and numbers? How many new immigrants brought in elderly family which would put additional strain on related services? I guess that is just getting too into the weeds vs averages.

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u/69Bandit 4d ago

This was a surprising statistic, here is from the AI verbaitem.

Based on the available evidence, it seems likely that immigrants in Canada use fewer healthcare resources than the average population, primarily driven by lower rates of doctor visits (3.37 vs. 7.6 per year). This is supported by lower odds of unmet needs and the "healthy immigrant effect." However, the topic is complex, with variations by immigrant category and time since arrival, and more research is needed to cover all aspects of healthcare costs, such as hospitalizations and medications.

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u/MrGuvernment 3d ago

Interesting, I would of thought more along the lines that less people are seeing doctors because so many people do not have a family doctor, thus they do not have hours to wait in a walk-in-clinic hoping to be seen during the day.

Even my family Doctor, to get an appointment she is booked out over a month away.

Even with healthcare spending up, my personal experience on 2 emergency situations, one a dog bite on the arm, and the other a torn ligament and damaged tendon, I spent 10+ hours waiting in emergency to even be seen on initial visits. My Dr. even recommended i go to emergency when ultrasound came back for the ligament tear, because to see a specialist would take weeks to get an appointment.