Alberta wide preventative health program would lower care costs: report

A University of Calgary report said a province-wide preventative health program could reduce health care costs significantly.

Economics professor Herb Emery from the School of Public Policy said the rising cost of health care cannot be supported by taxpayers.

The study compared results from a privately run preventative program with data from Alberta Health.

Emery said hospital and emergency room visits were lower, which resulted in costs 22 to 39 per cent below those within the public system.

He said a province-wide approach would cost about $500 a person.

Emery says it would free up the equivalent of 1,600 hospital beds and save up to $1.2 billion a year in health-care costs.