Public and Private Health Care in Canada - Research Paper Example

Public and Private Health Care in Canada In the article “The Public-Private Mix in the Health Care System: Concepts Issues and Policy Options Revisited”, Don Chernichovsky basically tries to bring out an image of what a “combined system” in the public and private health care would look like. The system in Canada is currently totally segregated and the public and private sector provide health care independently. The article was published in September 2000. Don Chernichovsky is a well-known researcher with the National Economic Bureau of Research. His research results are very detailed and well explained with evidence proving the facts that the author is trying to pass across. The number of bibliographies and citation goes further to prove the viability of the information in the article. The author uses a list of citations to back up his argument on the matter (Chernichovsky, 2000). The article “Private health care in Canada: saviour or siren?” written by Marni D. Brownell and Carolyn A. DeCoster provides opposing arguments on a two-structure health care system as influenced by the financial implications and pressures in the nation. In addition, it presents and evaluation of the common beliefs regarding the health care system in Canada. The article is an academic journal published in the Public Health Care Reports in 1997. Considering the fact that this is an academic journal, there are chances that the opinions may be a bit biased and based on personal opinions mostly. There are a number of bibliography and citations to back up the writers arguments. However, the authors mostly focus on their point of view and do not use any counter arguments, which would have been helpful in persuation (Bromwell, 1997). The third article “Financing Long term Care in Canada”, written by Michael Grignon and Nicole F. Bernier is an empirical study comparing the three different financing schemes for long term care in Canada. The report in a way rather assumes the function of the government in trying to cater to this need for the citizens. The article was published in 2012 after being reviewed by other peers to ensure no bias in the information presented. To support their argument, the authors explain that Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) have since time immemorial advocated for aging care which considers the needs of the person and not just financial needs. The authors even go further to use graphs and graphical presentation to try and give a clear of the information and provide evidence to their argument. There are no forms of generalizations which help in persuading one to believe in the message being passed (Grignon and Bernier, 2012). Heather Whiteside’s article “Canada’s Health Care “Crisis”: Accumulation by Dispossession and the Neoliberal Fix “argues for the call to gain an understanding of the development and transformation that has taken place over the years in the healthcare system of the country. In addition, the author tries to bring out the consequences that would ensue because of neoliberal reforms as compared to a Keynesian welfare state. The article was published in 2009 after being evaluated by fellow peers to analyse for any kind of biasness that may be in place. The argument however may seem a bit one sided with no clear evidence to support the arguments which makes persuading one to believe the information hard. The author gives different views on the argument to try and give two sides of the issue on whether Canada’s health care is actually in crisis or not. (Whiteside, 2009). Evaluation According to the IRRP study, the health care that one receives and the cost care that which the care is offered is dependent on the region in which one resides. The IRRP research is mostly focused on trying to find ways in which to provide good health care to all the citizens of Canada. Over the decades, very the population in Canada keeps growing at a rather high rate. Consequently, the government has been forced to try and develop new ways to fund the heath care in the country to ensure that all the citizens get the health care services that they require. The authors argued that relying on private savings to cater for health care provisions is not as ideal as people are likely to imagine. On the contrary, there is the likelihood if people saving either too much or too little. All the four articles bring out the idea that the speed at which health care service is provided in the public hospitals is slower than it is in the private hospitals. This is obviously expected be expected considering the fact that the public health care units cater to all the citizens for free while the private units charge a certain fee. Most people in the country will likely opt to use the free service unless they can easily afford to pay for the private health units. In addition, over the years a lot of private hospitals have been set up. This makes one question the credibility as most people who venture into the public sector are mostly likely more invested in their own monetary interests that the actual interests of the patient. In the IRRP research, the authors argued that if the free health care plan in Canada was to be taken out of the picture, more people were likely to apply for insurance (Grignon and Bernier, 2012). This is not the case as despite the availability of free health care, there are some services that the plan does not cover such as dental care. Consequently, this has necessitated the need for the citizens to seek out private insurance to cater for the needs where the public system may fail. From the four articles, it is evident that the main problem facing the Canadian public health care system is the waiting that is required before one is attended to by a physician. The waiting can take up to eight months at most. This may not be so ideal to most people, which is why people will tend to opt for the private health care and skip all the waiting associated with public health care. In addition, all the authors in the four articles agree that the private sector is likely to extort the citizens in the name of providing the ‘best service’. People will likely fall for this rouse. To most people, their health comes first. This is even more the case for those who have some kind of status in the community. These kinds of people will likely to believe that they deserve the best and will likely be most willing to spend the most in health care. The authors also agree that the public health care in Canada has been deteriorating over the years because more private health care systems coming into the picture. Conclusion It is apparent that the health care provision in Canada is not as fair as the government makes the citizens believe. As much as some of the low-income citizens are able to afford the private health care, this is not so to every citizen. Some still do not have the luxury of accessing the private health care in the country. Contrary to the belief of some researchers, the health care plan that Canada has actually worked. However, this does not imply that it does not have its shortcomings. There are obviously bound to be hic ups here and there. This is why the private sector is growing as a way to sustain the public health care system. In addition, people need to be educated if at all they are ever expected to make informed decisions. Whether or not an individual opts to go with the public healthcare insurance or the private health care insure should be based on reliable information. The public and the private health care sectors should complement each other and not the way that the private sector is viewed as a threat to the public health care system. As much as public long term insurance may be an excellent idea, people ought to be educated on the idea and get a better understanding of exactly what it means. References Chernichovsky, D. (2000). The Public-Private Mix In The Modern Health Care System- Concepts, Issues And Policy Options Revisited. National Bureau of Economic Research. Brownell, M. D. and DeCoster, C. A. (1997). Private health care in Canada: saviour or siren? Public Health Reports. 112.4. Grignon, M and Bernier, N. F. (2012). Financing Long-Term Care in Canada. IRPP Study, No. 33. Whiteside, H. (2009). Canada’ S Health Care “Crisis”: Accumulation By Dispossession And The Neoliberal Fix. Studies in Political Economy 84. Read More