Canadian Healthcare System

Overview

The Canadian healthcare system is a publicly funded system with overall guidelines being set at a federal level and administration being done at the provincial level. Medical treatment, preventative care and hospital services are granted to all citizens.

Administration

Since each province administers there own system services rendered can vary slightly. Each province must offer the basic services with addtional services varying by province. Additional services may include physiotherapy, dental coverage, prescription medicines, chiropractic, etc. Basic services are those defined by the Canadian Health Act, which include primary care physicians and hospital services. Services that aren't offered by the province are either paid out of pocket or by private health insurance offered through employee benefits. The majority of Canadians rely soley on the public system. With provincial plans not covering everything there have been more and more private clinics opening up to offer these other services. There are several limitations placed on private clinics with the main limitation not allowing them to offer any service offered under the Canada Health Act. Access to healthcare starts as soon as you meet minumum provincial residency requirements which are limited to a maximum of three months. After this period you receive a health card and can register with a primary care physician. After registering with a primary care physician you only need to present your card on visits with no payments required.

Health Care Funding

The funding for the provincial healthcare systems comes from a mixture of both federal and provincial funds. These funds are generated through personal tax, corporate tax, sales tax, and lottery revenue. federal payments make up only slightly more than 20 percent of provincial medical care costs (Kraker, 2002). "Provincial government share of total health spending was up to 63.8 per cent in 2002. Other public sector expenditure (which includes federal spending, social security funds and municipal government) totals 5.9 per cent."₁ Surcharges or Premiums are also in place by Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Since these premiums are not required under the Canadian Health Act there are facilities in place for low income residents who cannot afford to pay them.

Problems With The System

The main problem with the Canadian healthcare system is the waiting period for treatment. "the Fraser Institute, found that, for patients requiring surgery, the total average waiting time from the initial visit to the family doctor through to surgery was 17.7 weeks, a significantly more than the 16 weeks found in 2001. Median waiting times remain higher in every category than are deemed ‘clinically reasonable’ median waiting times by physicians in 2005. (Fraser Institute, 2005, Chart 14.) Overall, 85 per cent of median waiting times are higher than clinically reasonable waiting times. (Fraser Institute, p. 27.)₁ In 2005 Canadians waited 12.3 weeks for an MRI scan, 5.5 weeks for a CT-scan and 3.4 weeks for an ultrasound. (Fraser Institute, Chart 16.) In 2002, Canada had fewer CT scanners per 1,000 population than the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average (10.8 compared with 19). Similarly, it had only 4.7 MRI scanners per 1,000 population compared with an OECD average of 7.9. Unsurprisingly, many choose to fly south to the US for diagnosis and treatment.₁ the average wait for general ultrasound is eight weeks and 20 weeks for MRI scans, with a quarter million people waiting for these examinations alone.₁"

References

Dale R Neufeld