This report aims to understand Quebecers’ preferences regarding the public policy trade-offs associated with increased healthcare spending. It is based on experimental surveys that allow to assess support for different healthcare network reforms, as well as citizens’ willingness to pay for an increase in healthcare spending, either via taxation or via a reduction in other public spending. It has three main objectives, namely a) to understand citizens’ preferences regarding trade-offs between rising healthcare costs, taxation, and other social policies; b) to understand citizens’ preferences regarding a reorientation of spending within the healthcare network; and c) to understand lines of conflict and potential coalitions regarding solutions to rising healthcare costs.

            Our results indicate that Quebecers tend to prioritize healthcare spending over other public policies, and to be highly dissatisfied with the healthcare system. Our analyses also reveal a clear link between vulnerability to illness and attitudes towards health system financing. Older individuals, women and those with poorer health prioritize health policies more than other respondents, especially curative care that would benefit them immediately, to the detriment of preventive care. This high demand does not necessarily translate into a willingness to pay higher taxes to support this new public spending. On the contrary, these groups of citizens are the least likely to be willing to pay higher taxes to finance additional healthcare expenditure.

Contrary to the results of several previous studies, our analyses show that there is a marked ideological conflict when it comes to healthcare policies. Individuals who identify with the political left prioritize preserving the public nature of the healthcare system, minimizing user fees, and reducing health-related inequalities. They are also willing to pay higher taxes to achieve these goals. Individuals who align with the right prefer the opposite. We find no income or education divide when it comes to health policies; health is indeed a public policy supported by all social classes.