The Canadian Health Act - Essay Example

This paper explores the strategic failures of these five criteria with regard to the present Canadian healthcare system. I tend to argue that the Canadian health care lags behind in quality even though it is characterized by an excellent policy framework. To begin with, the public administration criterion mainly intends to describe the system of healthcare administration by a public authority. Under this system, the concerned public authority administers the healthcare insurance plan on a non-profitable basis.

Similarly, the comprehensiveness criterion demands that the healthcare insurance plan must insure all services which are ‘medically necessary’ for each province (Parliamentary Information and research Service, n.d.). At the same time, the third criterion universality has designed to ensure the unbiased healthcare services to everyone. Hence, this system gives access for all the residents to healthcare insurance and other related services. It is identified that portability is a very similar criterion to universality.

It asks to make provisions for extending the insurance coverage to all persons who are temporarily absent from their respective provinces or from Canada. The last criterion accessibility requires the indiscriminate services to the insured person without considering their age, income, or health status. Although the five criteria seem to be the powerful ingredients of the Canada health Act 1984, in my opinion, the criterion of comprehensiveness is the most fruitful one. It is defined under section 9 of the Canada Health Act 1984 and demands that the health care insurance plan must “cover all insured health services provided by hospitals, physicians, or dentists (surgical-dental services which require a hospital setting) and, where the law of a province permits, similar or additional services rendered by other health care practitioners” (lecture notes; slide 38).

This criterion ensures the coverage for all healthcare services under health care insurance plan. It is opined that improved health care facilities are the part of social justice since all individual have certain interests regarding their health. Choudhry (1996) tells that the basic idea behind this criterion is that an individual gets wide range of opportunities in order to cover his/her disability. The effect of this criterion saves the Canadian people from the overburden of healthcare expenses.

Hence, people do not need to put off their medical consultation on the ground of lack of finance. It is estimated that lion’s part of the expenditure on Canada’s dental care services were financed privately. In order to overcome this difficulty, the comprehensiveness criterion of the new Act covers dental services also. Similarly, healthy generation is the essential requirement and asset of every nation since this factor adds value to the manpower requirements of the economy. Although the terms of the Canada Health Act 1984 are enough to cover the need of the Canadian society, some of its features fail to meet its actual intentions; especially, universality, accessibility, and comprehensiveness.

The criterion of universality demands the cent percent serviceability to persons who are covered under healthcare insurance plan. However, there are not enough doctors in the country to satisfy this demand. As a result, the universality factor fails to meet its actual requirements. Similarly, the accessibility factor tries to avoid all health care disparities