Access to Health Care in Canada - Essay Example

Access to health care in Canada INTEL [Pick the Health Care in Canada Thesis ment: "The funded health care system of Canada is facing considerable challenges that can only be addressed by upgrading the system to meet the demands of the day" Prior to mid-20th century, health care was largely considered to be a private family responsibility and its accountability also rested upon the individual family units. After the Second World War, the concept of Welfare State emerged (Eikemo & Bambra, 2008), in which government plays the principal role of protecting and promoting the social and economic well-being of its citizens. This concept of welfare state is based upon the principle of equality. Subsequent to the havoc created by the Second World War, well-developed countries like Canada started investing in health care and, on the provision of personal health care services for its citizens. Canadian health care is often referred to as Medicare. The official website explains the system as a collection of national health insurance programs, designed to ascertain that all the citizens have appropriate access to “medically necessary hospital and physician services”. The health care system is primarily framed by the Canada Health Act (CHA), a federal legislation which propagates conditions regarding the obtainment of funds for health care services by Canadian provinces and territories. CHA specifies the particular conditions and criteria which must be met by provincial and territorial health care insurance plans, which would ultimately translate into qualification for receiving the specified share from the federal cash contribution. Canadian federal government encourages the provincial government to co-operate and follow national standards by incentivizing the conformity. The federal government agrees to pay 50% of the cost for such provincially administered health care systems. There are five major principles which are included in CHA (Canadian-healthcare.org, 2004); Accessibility: All insured citizens must necessarily have access to health care facilities and also, the service providers must be reasonably compensated. Universality: All the insured individuals are entitled to get same level of health care, irrespective of the social class or any other factor. Comprehensiveness: All compulsory health care services must be insured. This includes dentists, hospitals, and physicians. Portability: All the insured residents are permitted to receive health care services from their home province, even if they travel to a different province, territory or country. Public Administration: Health insurance must be administered, at a provincial level, by a public authority which functions on a non-profit basis. The principles of accountability apply to all such service providers and their records are subjected to audits as well. Wolper (2011) has praised Canadian health care system by saying, “Canada indirectly provides healthcare services through a tax-funded public system which is accessible by all Canadians". The primary objective of Canadian health care policy is to “protect, promote and restore physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada” (Di, 2010). The purpose also includes facilitation and accessibility of the reasonable health services, without having to face any financial crisis by the citizens (Justice Law Website, 2012). The Canadian health care system is often subjected to much debate. Many argue that this system in under severe crisis (Lusardi et al, 2010). A report published by OECD presents a comprehensive aspect in this regard. While comparing Canadian health care system with those prevalent in the international world, OECD leans towards awarding high points to Canadian health care system on outcomes. One of the OECD annual reports notes that, “Canada’s survival rates for breast and colorectal cancer are among the highest in the OECD” (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2011). According to Villeneuve & Wildfong (2012), “Canada also does well in primary care, preventing costly hospital admissions from chronic conditions such as asthma and uncontrolled diabetes” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2011 report has also highlighted two primary adverse aspects of the health care system. Firstly, Canada secures a higher position than many countries in ‘in-hospital adverse events’. For instance rates of accidental puncture or rates of foreign bodies left during surgeries is quite high. Secondly, long waiting times in another issue which is one of the major concerns.The OECD report states a survey, in which 59% of the respondents have reportedly waited for 4 weeks or more to get an appointment from a specialist. Also, another major finding from the survey yielded that 25% of the respondents claim to wait for 4 months or more for an electric surgery (OECD Report, 2011). Long waiting times are known to pose monetary and non monetary costs, particularly for those who have to bear this problem. If the magnitude of these waiting times increases, it is more likely that the overall costs associated with it will also escalate, which would have adverse affect for sure. Presumably, the Canadian government saves decent sum of money, if people form queues in order to get the promised medical facilities, because the overall expenditure on hospital and medical professionals like doctors, surgeons and dentists reduces considerably. But, what the Canadian government fails to comprehend is that this monetary benefit will span over short period only, but the overall costs that a waiting patient has to bear are way more severe. The perception of Canadian masses towards their national health care system is multifaceted. A research conducted by Queens University on perception of the Canadian citizens, suggests that Canadians are largely committed to universal health care and are also concerned about the national health care system. The report notes that although, the ratings of the system have increased to some extent over the years, which highlights the positive perception of the Canadian population, but a chunk of the masses still considers the system as “unsustainable and urgently in need of substantive change” (Soroka, 2007). The poll demonstrated that Canadians have a fairly accurate perception of their health care system and also exhibit confidence in the Canadian government to rectify the flaws. Apart from that, the survey also showed extensive support for increase in health care spending. Furthermore, the poll suggests that the major concerns for Canadians include timely access and quality issues, which are perceived to further deteriorate in the future. Canadian health care system may be regarded as way better than many systems prevalent in other countries, but it is not free from problems. Deber (2003) states that the current dire issues which need immediate attention include financing and delivery of health care. The underlying dilemma to cause such a predicament is the inter-governmental dispute regarding organization, incentive structures and comprehensives of the system. Until now, no major reforms have been formulated by the government to address these issues. The Canadian government did introduce Health Accords in 2003 and 2004, but the reforms yielded disappointing results. McGinley (2012) states in his article that total expenditure in Canada on health care, as a percentage of GDP, has significantly amplified from 8.8% to 11.3% from 2000 to 2010. He further states that on average a Canadian spends $4363 on health care in comparison to OECD average of $ 3361 on per capita basis (OECD, 2011). Research findings like these demonstrate an alarming situation for Canadian government and also suggest that it is high time that relevant policies must be devised and implemented to increase the efficiency and effective of the health care system. Other statistics also reveal impressive information. A well established fact states that a Canadian newborn baby is expected to live 80 years, primarily, because the childhood infections related to death have become rare in Canada now. Not only that, but the previously known 85 percent mortality rate associated with leukemia is now transformed into 85 percent survival rate. Statistics like these exhibit the amount of effort put in and also, the effective delivery of the health care system in Canada. If the Canadian government had not delivered its promise, the prevalent health care system in Canada would not have been studied as an exemplary model in other countries. No doubt, the flaws mentioned earlier in this report are quite severe in nature but on cannot deny that the government is putting in efforts to rectify the health care system, so that flawless medical facilities can be provided to its residents. In order to curb the grave issue of long waiting times, Canada should develop and install “market-based policies” in the health care system (Bryant, 2009). Globerman (2013) suggests that in order to make health care industry as more competitive, fees must be introduced, rather than compensating the specialists with salaries. He further suggests that co-payments must be implemented, which would impel the patients to consider the costs associated with demands which are being imposed on the health care system by them. He also argues that countries which are known to have shorter waiting times are those which are funded by subsidized private institutions or through social insurance system, unlike being “tax-funded and government-run systems”. The troubled economic scenario in the contemporary world, poses some great challenges in future. The health care system affects every citizen in the country, irrespective of this background, so its importance cannot be undermined or ignored. Medicare is no longer considered to be a means to providing health services to the insured individuals, rather it has emerged as a symbol of national identity in Canada and is viewed as a summation of values which this country embodies (Tattersall, 2010). That is why, it is the primary duty of the Canadian government to resort to evidence-based approach and recognize the possibility that excessive intervention can be a source of harm rather than benefits. It is government’s responsibility to come up with a fair and reasonable solution, which should value the citizens and must have the capability to address the cracks that have emerged to materialize in Medicare. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bryant, T. (2009). An introduction to health policy. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press Inc. canadian-healthcare.org (2004) Canadian Health CareAvailable: http://www.canadian-healthcare.org/page2.html Deber, R. B. (2003). Health care reform: Lessons from Canada. American Journal of Public Health, 93(1), 20-24. Di, G. D. (2010). Strategies to improve the Canadian healthcare system. München: GRIN-Verl. Eikemo, T. A., & Bambra, C. (2008). The welfare state: a glossary for public health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62(1), 3-6. Globerman, S. (2013) Reducing Wait Times for Health Care Available: http://www.fraseristitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/reducing-wait-times-for-health-care.pdf 2014. Justice Law Website (2012) CANADIAN HEALTH CARE POLICY Available: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-6/page-2.html Lusardi, A., Schneider, D. J., & Tufano, P. (2010). The economic crisis and medical care usage (No. w15843). National Bureau of Economic Research. McGinley M., (2012) Reforming Canada’s health care system Available: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/articles/reforming-canadas-health-care-system_csr-winter-2012.pdf Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). Health at a glance 2011: OECD Indicators. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Soroka, S. N. (2007). Canadian perceptions of the health care system: A report to the Health Council of Canada. Toronto: Health Council of Canadá. Tattersall, A. (2010). Power in coalition: Strategies for strong unions and social change. Ithaca: ILR Press/Cornell University Press. Villeneuve, M., & Wildfong, D. (2012). Canada’s Top 5 in 5. Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.), 16(3), 14-16. Wolper, L. F. (2011). Health care administration: Managing organized delivery systems. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More