Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:28 am Post subject: HEALTHCARE IN CANADA
HEALTHCARE IN CANADA
GENERAL
Canada's health care system is regarded as a major contributor to Canada's number one world ranking on the United Nations Human Development Index. Canada has a predominantly publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that is best described as an interlocking set of ten provincial and three territorial health insurance plans. Known to Canadians as Medicare, the system provides access to comprehensive coverage for medically necessary hospital, in-patient and out-patient services.
Social Health Insurance
The system is referred to as a 'national health insurance system' as all provincial/territorial and medical insurance plans are linked at federal level. The management and delivery of health services is the responsibility of each individual province or territory.
Medicare provides a variety of economic benefits. Public financing spreads the cost of providing health services equitably across society. Moreover financing through the taxation process has proven highly efficient since it does not require the creation of a separate collection process.
As there are gaps in the cover provided by the social health Insurance system (e.g. prescription drugs, dental and optical expenses as well as the fees for registered therapists). The role of Private Health Insurance is undoubtedly to bridge these gaps through complimentary Health Insurance benefits supplementary to public plans (extended health care for hospital, medical and other health care expenses, travel/out-of-country, dental and "critical illness" coverage).
The health system relies extensively on primary care physicians who account for about 51% of all active physicians. They act as gatekeepers to the formal health care system, and control access to most specialists.
Canada does not have a system of socialized medicine. Doctors are not employed by the government. Most doctors are private practitioners generally paid on a fee-for-service basis and submit their claims directly to the provincial health insurance plan for payment.
In 1998, total health expenditure in Canada was US $53.4 billion or $1,742 per capita. Health care spending accounted for 9.3% of Gross Domestic Product down from the 1992 level of 10%. Public sector funding represents about 68.7% of the total health budget. The remaining 31.3% is financed privately through supplementary insurance plans and employee sponsored benefits.
It is worth noting that the single-payer attribute of public insurance has enabled the provinces and territories to better control the growth of health expenditures in the public sector than has been the case in the private sector.
In the 1999 Budget, the government announced key steps to bolster health care in Canada. Transfer payments to the provinces/territories for health services will increase by US $7.4 billion from 1999-2004. The investment in the health of Canadians and their health care system represents the largest single new investment ever made by the Government.
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