Canada's Healthcare Research Paper

The purpose of this paper is to compare the Canadian and the United States health

Neighboring countries, United States and Canada have close ties to one another, share the same language and have many of the same fundamental and religious beliefs. It is an interesting debt as to which provides a superior healthcare system. In order to better understand the strengths and weakness of the two systems, this paper will review four important structural and functional elements of each system.

Canada’s healthcare system started in 1946 and is made up of a group of socialized health insurance plans that provides coverage to all Canadian citizens. It is publicly funded and administered on a provincial or territorial basis with in the rules set by their federal government. Since the late 1960’s Canada essential has had a universal health insurance system covering all services provided by physicians and hospitals. In 1966 Lester B Pearson’s government subsequently expanded a policy of the universal healthcare with the medical care act. Canada’s healthcare system is the subject of political controversy and debate in the country. While healthcare in America began in the late 1800’s but was truly born in 1929 when Justin Kimball

Health care is an essential service needed by citizens. As a result, the government plays an important role by designing an appropriate health care system for its citizens. In this paper, a comparison between the health care system in the U.S. and Canada has been made. Using various literary sources, the comparison has been done considering the four components of health care services delivery; financing, insurance, delivery, and payment. The findings indicate that the health care system in the U.S. is expensive but more efficient than the single-payer health care system in Canada.

Health care expenditure accounted for an estimated 11% (214.9 billion) of Canada’s GDP in 2014 (CIHI, 2014). Canada boasts a universal, cost-effective and fair health care system to its citizens (Picard, 2010). However, despite great claims and large expenses incurred Canada’s health care system has been reported inefficient in it’s delivery to the population (Davis, Schoen, & Stremikis, 2010; Picard, 2010). As inconsistencies exist in health care delivery across the country, choosing priorities for the health of the Canadian people becomes of vital importance. In Ontario, progress toward a better health care system has been stated to be moving forward by putting the needs of the “patient’s first” (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care [MOHLTC], 2015). This policy brief will give a background of health care issues in Canada related to Ontario. Three evidence-based priorities will be suggested for Ontario’s health policy agenda for the next three to five years. Furthermore, through a critical analysis of these issues a recommendation of the top priority issue for the agenda will be presented.

In this paper, there will be a comparative analysis to the United States (U.S.) healthcare system and Canadians healthcare system highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both.

     In the past, Canada’s government-funded, universally accessible, health care system has been praised and admired both at home and abroad as one of the finest in the world. A great source of pride and comfort for many Canadians is that it is based on five fundamental principles. Principles that are a reflection of the values held by Canadian citizens since the formation of Medicare in 1966. These principles were reinforced in the Canada Health Act, (CHA), of 1984 and state that the Canadian system is universal, accessible, portable, comprehensive and non-profit.

Canada has a single-payer healthcare system. This means that it is government funded. Coverage in Canada is both universal and portable and accommodates for people of all economic classes. (Helfgott) The rich and the poor are in the same system. (Nader) Doctors, as a group, must negotiate their rates for services with the provinces. In other words, they cannot charge whatever they want for any given procedure. In Canada, access to necessary healthcare services is not a competitive sport. (Maioni) From the moment we are born until the day we die we are covered. A simple health card is all that it takes to have these healthcare services.

Canada has one of the best healthcare systems in the world and in 2022 was ranked in the top 25 in the World Index of Healthcare Innovation (Medium, 2023). Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through a healthcare system called Medicare. Canada's healthcare system was created by the Canada Health Act and under the act there is a law in place that says it must comply with the five pillars. The five pillars of this system must be universal, publicly administered, have comprehensive coverage, be portable across provinces, and be accessible to the population (Columbia, 2020). For Canadian residents under this system, everyone has reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services without having to pay for

Canada’s health care system “can be described as a publicly-funded, privately-provided, universal, comprehensive, affordable, single-payer, provincially administered national health care system” (Bernard, 1992, p.103). Health care in Canada is provincial responsibility, with the Canada Health act being a federal legislation (Bernard, 1992, p. 102). Federal budget cuts, has caused various problems within Medicare such as increased waiting times and lack of new technology. Another problem with Medicare is that The Canada Heath Act does not cover expenditures for prescriptions drugs. All these issue has caused individuals to suggest making Medicare privatized. Although, Canada’s health care system consists of shortcomings, our universal

Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that in 2013, the U.S. government spent 17.1% of its GDP toward to the health care, versus Canada, with spending only 10.7% of its GDP yet performs better than the U.S. Some of the reasons lead to a better health care performance in Canada include, minimum advertising with maximum revenues go directly to the care; and Canada’s administrative simplicity, which doctor handles the insurance claim the same as the provincial insurer, so the person who accesses health cares will not be involved in billing and reclaim. Canada also has a higher percentage of health care coverage, while almost one out of five non-elderly Americans is uninsured. In Canada, health care support is more like a public system rather than a place where to make

When asked to describe what makes Canada unique compared to other countries, many outsiders might yell out “Hockey!” “Cold Weather!” or “Free Health Care!.” Health care is definitely one of Canada’s most noticeable trademarks when compared to the United States, but the reality is that our health care services are not what they are made out to be. Canadians tend to take pride in the fact that they have a Government funded health care system, but the system is failing at a rapid pace. One can gage the quality of health care in our country while at the emergency ward in any hospital, where most Canadians realize its downsides. The Government spends most of its budget towards health care but Canadians are not feeling an improvement. Waiting

Canada spends remarkably little on health care, which leaves the country more money to spend on lots of other things. They also focus more on outcomes that matter to health and less on process measures, like how fast can you get an optional MRI then other countries

The comparison between health care in the United States and health care in Canada has been a continuing debate. America does not have a universal health coverage plan for it's population, while Canadians are privileged to have universal health coverage. Normally a patient will pay twice as much for health coverage in the United States compared to treatment in Canada. This puts the US in first position of having the most expensive health care system on earth. (http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/health-care-for-all/has-canada-got-the-cure) Most of the population in the United States have no health coverage at all. Compared to Canada, the wait time for elective procedures in the United States is somewhat longer. Many Americans feel the

Medicare is facing a fiscal crisis that threatens its sustainability. The need for significant Medicare reform is increasingly urgent as 76 million baby boomers are expected to retire over the next two decade. According to the 201 Medicare Trustees Report, the Hospital Insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2024. This translates to $27 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years. Current projections indicate that health care costs will increase by more that 70 percent over the next ten years and will continue thereafter to consume an increasingly greater portion of personal income.