Medicare in Canada

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer points out that the vast majority of opinion about privatized health care in Canada is firmly against such a proposal. At the same time, there are also a number of very strong arguments put forward in favor of privatization. The writer discusses that in some ways the question is misleading because privatization already is at work in parts of Canada, and the country has a mixed system. The most negative views come from critics who focus on the costly and inefficient privatized system in the United States. At the same time, the Canadian universal health care system has been plagued for years by problems between the federal government and the various provinces related to financing and delivery. The writer notes that Medicare in Canada is also proving to be inefficient and costly, and is a source of division between the federal and provincial governments. The Canadian system is held as an ideal because of the principles of health care. The writer argues that what is needed in Canada is reform of Medicare which could take the form of privatization or a mixture of private and public.

From the Paper:

"Privatization, according to the CHC, will actually increase wait times for health services more than ever, and will also drive health care costs up. All those services which are of better quality would be provided privately simply because there would be more plentiful resources. There also would be a fundamental change to public resources which would be used to subsidize the private system.
"One argument for privatization in Canada is that the five principles originating in the Canada Health Act of 1984 no longer apply because of new trends in care delivery. According to Lewis and Donaldson, ever since the 1960s, fewer and fewer health services have been governed by the rules of Medicare. The logical course to take consists of a free market approach by which health care is a commodity; this would result in a more efficient system. Privatization actually has several meanings, and the Canadian health care system actually has operated as a combination of both public and private."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Canadian Health Coalition (CHC) (2005). Stop privatization now. Action Alert. Ottawa. Retrieved September 29, 2006. http://www.medicare.ca
• Editors (2000). The Americas: Intensive Care. The Economist, 355 (8164), 34-35.
• Grace, M. (2003). Profit or punishment: Medicare can either crack down on the sick or bring back private enterprise. Citizens Centre Report, 30 (1), 18.
• Lewis, S. & Donaldson, C. (2001). The future of health care in Canada. British Medical Journal, 323 (7318), 926-930.

More papers on Medicare in Canada:

• Term Paper # 99541 : "Privatization of Health Care in Canada"
• Essay # 86620 : "User Fees and Medicare"
• Persuasive Essay # 148668 : "The Canada Health Act and Medicare System"

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