Canada's Health Care Plan

Abstract

This paper will explore the health care plan of a country other than the United States of America. The particular country that will be of focus is Canada. Different aspects of the health care system will be discussed. There will also be a comparison of Canada’s health care plan to America’s health care plan. Does Canada offer the best health care policies or does America?

Canada vs United States

The Canadian health care system is often seen as a model for other countries. Many of them attempt to duplicate the system but find it rather difficult. Canada is known for providing all citizens with "medically necessary and hospital physician services." This means that they are guaranteed access to these services, no matter the circumstance. While these services are provided, it is up to the 10 provinces and three territories to provide “supplementary” benefits. Some Canadians choose to take out private insurance policies to cover other services such as prescription coverage or dental care. Others may be under their employers’ plan.

Whereas in the United States, access to care is limited. The reason for this is because health care costs in the United States are extremely high. In a graph conducted in 2009, “Canada spent 11.4 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on health care,” but the U.S. spent 17.4 percent and had the highest of the OECD countries. Health care is not “free” to Americans as it is to Canadians. It is not government-funded. As Stuart Altman said, the U.S medical care system is more expensive to run. With a country like America, there is no way to bring costs down.

The only reason why this technique is possible in Canada is because the prices are much lower than south of the border. It is said that Canada does more for less, which is favorable. For example, "an MRI that costs, on average, $1,200 in the United States costs about $824 in Canada." With that being said, the physicians also get paid less in Canada...