Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I welcome our witnesses.
Picking up the comments from your brief, Mr. Simpson, you mention that a hospital stay costs somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1,000 a day, a seniors' home costs $130 to $140, and home care is $50 to $60 a day. Quite frankly, I've always argued that for some patients in hospitals who are able to look after themselves, it would be cheaper to put them up in a hotel, quite honestly.
You said something that really got my attention: that there are other jurisdictions doing a better job with less money. Health care is a huge cost to the federal budget. There is a jurisdictional problem and I think you went over it a little too easily. For any federal government and any provincial government, it's a real task to wrestle that to the ground.
One thing we have done is the Canada Health Infoway. Have you seen the direct results of that on the ground? Is it saving Canadians money? Are you getting patients' records quicker?