La contribution santé épargne-t-elle les pauvres du Québec ?

Abstract

The lump-sum health contribution was established in July 2010 by the gouvernement du Québec. The objective of the contribution was to collect additional funding to be injected in the health sector. However the fact that this measure violated the Law 112 aiming to fight poverty and social exclusion generated strong reactions and opposition in the population of Quebec. Consequently the government elected in 2012 decided to modify the structure of the health contribution to make it more progressive. In this article, we analyze and compare the effect of the two health contribution versions on the wellbeing of Quebec households. We confirm that the lump-sum health contribution increases poverty. Furthermore this negative effect is stronger for the initially poorer subpopulations. Finally, as expected from its structure, the $ 200 contribution increases intragroup inequalities. We also conclude that the revised version of the health contribution is more progressive as it does not affect the incidence of poverty and decreases inequalities. This revised heath contribution thus respects the Law 112.

Keywords

• Quebec
• health
• taxation
• welfare