Original broadcast date: January 20, 2008

Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Brian Day released a study produced for the Canadian Medical Association by the Centre for Spatial Economics, in Toronto during a Jan. 15 speech. The study claims that wait times in the four of the five targeted areas, joint replacement, sight restoration, cardiac bypass surgery and MRI scans, cost Canada $14.8 billion last year and lowered government revenues by $4.4 billion during the same period.

Dr. Day told the Economic Club of Toronto, “Our estimates are extremely conservative. They address only the wait time to treatment after a specialist’s consultation and recommendation, and they exclude the growing and significant costs of waiting to see the family doctor or specialist.”