Health Insurance and Funding Policy in Canada - Essay Example

Health Insurance and Funding Policy in Canada Health Insurance and Funding Policy in Canada The health system in Canada is regarded as “free” healthcare system. It is funded both at federal and provincial levels through taxation on individual and corporate income tax basis. Other funding sources are such as sales tax and proceeds collected from lottery in certain provinces. Although the Canadian health care is regarded as free, the tax system and insurance policy in the country ensures that all families contribute towards the health system. The health care is substantially delivered through public funded system which leads to free medical services almost even to private institutions. This paper attempts to outline and analyze the health care insurance and funding policies in Canada and the outcome of the current system as well as changes made in the recent times. Canadian health care system is usually viewed as one of the best in the world since it incorporates the health needs of all citizens. The health initiatives in the country can be said to have achieved the Royal Commission goal on health services that was outlined in 1964. The goal of the Royal Commission was to achieve medical care services for all citizens. This has been achieved through the efforts and policies that have been taking place since that time. Canadian health care is based on provisions provided by Canada Health Act that was drafted in 1984. The act allows the government to provide quality health care and integrated health system through federal standards. The policy does not require the government to engage in daily activities within the health sector but leaves the individuals to undertake health care practices with their physicians. It is thus the responsibility of the citizens to follow up on the health care and consult their physicians whenever necessary (Skinner, 2009). Canada recognizes the essence of ethics and law of latest technologies and the scientific innovations in the health sector to improve the health care for citizens. This means that the members of the public participate in the funding of the national health care system. To support the policy of scientific innovation in health care system, the government involves the private and public sectors to offer contributions, grants, awards, and collaborations that can promote increased resources within the health sector. These grants and contributions are essential in promoting health research and development in the country and also ensure better equipments for complicated diseases are available in various health care institutions (Millar, 2012). At the federal level, the responsible authorities issues and allocates funds to the provinces through Canadian Health and Social transfer (CHST). The transfer of those funds ensures that provinces are properly equipped with resources. In addition to the transferred funds from the federal government, the provinces also collect funds from the citizens through taxation and other levies charged on the citizens by the provincial authorities. The federal government of Canada spends more than 9.5% of its GDP on health care programs (Marchildon, 2013).At provincial level the health care funds are mostly got from social programs and the federal government. The citizens contributed almost more than three-quarters of all funds in the health care programs through taxes and levies. Many policies on health care system are based on legislative acts and legal considerations on the overall health programs. The provisions that have been outlined states that the government has the primary obligation of provision of health care services to the public which involves training of health practitioners, and regulation of health care services. Other policies involve the manufacture, production, sale and distribution of health care products in the country. The interpretation on legislative provisions outlined show that the government is responsible for control and regulation of the production, distribution and sale of health products in the country. This policy is meant to protect the public from poisoning or irresponsible health care services. These policies are aligned with the national health requirements and they focus on ensuring that the public health care takes first priority (Marchildon, 2013). The Current Structure in Canadian Health Insurance Policy The Canadian health system incorporates a group of health insurance plans that are socialized to provide a total coverage for all citizens. The health care program receives various sources of financing but the largest funding comes from the public. The current health system ensures that citizens get preventive care as well as medical assessment and treatments from physicians and they can easily access the hospitals, dental surgeries, consultation centers and other medical services. The policy on health care program states that except for few cases, all citizens are eligible to get quality health care services regardless of their personal income, medical history, family background or standard of living (Skinner, 2009). Regardless of the challenges arising from political interference, Canada has the highest life expectancy approximated as 80 years and also the lowest rates of infant mortality among industrialized nations. These achievements are attributed to Canadian robust health care system. Although many Canadians are optimistic and positive about the heath care program, different results has been indicated by the public opinion surveys that have been conducted. A survey that was conducted in 2009 indicated that many Canadians were satisfied by the health care system and they strongly supported the program. 86.2% of those that were interviewed expressed satisfaction on the program and advocated that the government should continue strengthening the project for the benefit of the public (Skinner, 2009). Further, another survey conducted involved comparison of the Canadian health care system to U.S health system. 82% of the respondents preferred the Canadian health system and only 8% stated that they would prefer the U.S system to Canadian one. This indicates that most Canadians are satisfied with the health care system and they would prefer that it would even grow further (Kiran, 2013). Although the Canadian health care program has been appreciated and admired all over the world, it has been facing challenges from the dwindling resources in the country. The demand of health care services has been growing at a higher rate than the growth in the economy. While the resources seem to be diminishing, the demand for health care services seems to be on the rise. Further, Canadian health care system is high susceptible to much controversy on political grounds and many debates by politicians affect how the operations of health sector are run (Marchildon, 2013). The problem with the Canadian health system involves the long queues that the patients have to make before they get treatment. The waiting time for patients involved in departments like emergency, specialist consultations and primary care exceeds the expected limits. When compared to other developed nations, Canada trails many countries due to difficulties on patients to access medical technologies as well as physicians (Millar, 2012). Considering the amount of finance and resources that have been applied in the system, Canada fails to deliver essential medical services with efficiency and the urgency required. The program is costly and it has been underperforming thus raising questions among the patients on its effectiveness. In comparison to other countries, Canada is said to lag behind on timely delivery of services with regard to cost of services especially compared to countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Netherlands. Also patients in such countries like Australia, France Japan and Sweden enjoy far better services than their compatriots in Canada who even pay more for similar services. It is claimed that the Canadians receive a row deal for the heavy insurance funds and taxes they pay every year on the health care program. This could be one of the major challenges that the patients face which would lead to their dissatisfaction on the program (Johnson, & Stoskopf, 2010). Whether the Government has been Doing Something to Improve on the Current Healthcare System Currently Canadian government is doing little to change the condition of the current health system. In fact, compared to other countries, Canada has been deteriorating in its performance on health care in relation to performance during previous decades. This means that the government has not invested much to improve the current heath care system. Canada is ranked tenth among 16 countries that have been performing well on healthcare sector. This indicates that the government has not implemented enough measures to improve the status of the health care system (Marchildon, 2013). The slight improvement on the health care services has led to changes in the country where you find that many diseases have decreased in their prevalence while there is a negative impact due to increase in spread of some other diseases. The positive impact that has been recorded includes life expectancy rise, and reduction on the mortality rates as a result of circulatory diseases. A slight improvement on reduction of mortality rates on respiratory diseases also impacts the country. If the government would be committed on further improvement of the healthcare services, more cases and conditions that have increased in growth rate would also be reduced. Such diseases include mortality rise due to diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions as well as infant mortality (Health economics and policy, 2011). In conclusion, the Canadian health care program and system has been effective since it ensures equal and quality medical services for all. It is regarded as one of the best in the world but the government needs to improve on the current system to give patients services that are worth their money. The health care system is highly dependent on contributions from citizens through tax and insurance funds. References Health Economics and Policy. (2011). Mason. Ohio: South-Western. Johnson, J. A., & Stoskopf, C. H. (2010). Comparative health systems: Global perspectives. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Kiran, T. (2013). Are Canadians too satisfied with their health care system? Healthydebate. Retrieved from http://healthydebate.ca/opinions/canadian_satisfaction_health_care Marchildon. (2013). Health systems in transition. University of Toronto Press. Millar, J. (2012). Canadian health care needs a massive transformation. The Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2012/03/14/canadian_health_care_needs_a_massive_transformation.html Skinner, B. J., & Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.C.). (2009). Canadian health policy failures: Whats wrong? Who gets hurt? Why nothing changes. Vancouver: Fraser Institute. Read More