The report, Spending Patterns in Canada 1998, shows out-of-pocket expenditures on health care were up slightly from 1997, when the average was $1152. However, spending on health care as a proportion of total expenditures was unchanged from the previous year. Household spending on health care has risen by 30% since 1978, when the average household expenditure was $917 (measured in constant 1998 dollars).

Health care costs were broken down between health insurance premiums, both public and private ($355) and direct costs to the household ($836). Medicinal and pharmaceutical products accounted for $320 in health spending, while eye-care goods and services accounted for $151. Dental services cost $231, and the services of other health care professionals such as chiropractors added an average of $54 to the bill. The average household expenditure on physicians' care was $13, while hospital care cost an average of $9.

The average out-of-pocket expenditure on health care in one-person households was $751, with single women spending 26% more than single men ($824 vs. $653). Husband–wife households with no children incurred $1333 in health care costs, while those with children spent $1410. Health care costs were highest in husband-wife households in which both spouses were 65 or older, with a total of $1475 annually.