Influences On The Canadian Health System

The disproportionate, poor health outcomes experienced by First Nations Canadians have been attributed to an uncoordinated and fragmented health care system. This system is rooted in colonial legislation and social policies that have created jurisdictional ambiguity and long-standing confusion among federal, provincial and First Nations governments as to who is responsible for First Nations health care (Kelly, 2011; Lavoie, 2013). The responsibility of healthcare resembles a “political football and while it is being passed back and forth, the health status of First Nations people remains the lowest of any segment of the population (Cook, 2011, p. 40). Despite attempts over the last 40 years to address this pressing social issue, the absence

In the book on a citizens guidelines to policy and politics, Katherine Fierlbeck argues that “The 1983 Canada Health Act replaced the 1947 Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services act because of the shift from a system of 50-50 federal-provincial cost sharing to a system of block funding established in Ottawa in 1977” (Fierlbeck 2011, pg.20). Until the period of the mid 1980’s, the Canadian health care system is to be categorized in a disarray, having no foundation to components and accomplishment. The system is to rely mainly on cost sharing; whereby in a health insurance policy only a portion is paid by the health insurance. While enabling the insured party to pay a portion of the price of covered services. In this case, cost sharing is based on 50-50 provincial and federal cost-sharing agreement to a fault. By Ottawa giving tax transfers to the provinces in replacement of direct transfers, but the federal government had no capacity to conceal cash. This in return is able to affect provinces because it deprived the federal government effective, efficient, and responsive measure of provinces holding the five principles of the Canada health care. According to About Canada Health Care, Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong speaks about the five principles of health care, which are; “Public administration, Comprehensiveness, Universality, Portability, and Accessibility” (Pat Armstrong & Hugh Armstrong 2008, pg.28). These five principles holds the provinces accountable to the

The Canadian health care system is funded majorly by the public, with very few private donations. Over the past few decades acts of large-scale philanthropy by wealthy private donors have started to increase, due to the investments in social programs and infrastructure from the government declining. Without the aid of private donors and large sources of income from outside of the public (government) the infrastructure of all hospitals, clinics, and the totality of western healthcare systems would collapse and ultimately fail as the system is set up presently. There is an opportunity of keeping a healthy and happy society sustained by public funds, as long as the government is able to step up and provide the healthcare system with enough funds, making the donations from philanthropists an excess instead of a necessity.

While many may argue that the Canadian health care system provides equal treatment to every Canadian, evidence shows that this is not the case. There are major discrepancies within the system regarding Indigenous people that need to be addressed including several factors such as: housing issues, stereotypes Aboriginals face and the lack of Aboriginal doctors.

The health care system in Ontario has been subjected to a lot of criticism and investigation since its introduction midway through the twentieth century. In the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the demand of healthcare, due to increase in the population from immigration and also, an increase in the chronic diseases among the residents of Ontario, which in turn has affected the overall quality of the provision of healthcare. Due to its availability to wide range of people it has become evident that the health care system has been restricted by incorporation of various strict time-consuming policies, which may cause the current healthcare system to be unsustainable in the future. Therefore, healthcare industry has added resources to accommodate increase in demands and the needs of the Ontarians, but this does not eliminate the problem that Ontario lacks a system-wide and sustained approach to improve quality of primary healthcare, which will be further discussed in the paper.

In this paper, there will be a comparative analysis to the United States (U.S.) healthcare system and Canadians healthcare system highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both.

The United States and Canada had similar health care system before Canada changed its system in the 1960s but now have a different mix of funding mechanisms. The basic difference between the two is in health insurance. Most assume Canada's system as socialized medicine which is not correct. Canada has a universal single-payer health care system which covers about 70% of health care costs. 75% of Canadian health care services are delivered privately, but are funded publicly. The Canada Health Act provides financial disincentives for using private insurance for publicly insured services and requires all insured people to be fully insured without copayments for all necessary hospital and physician

Oral health is not considered an integral part of Canada 's universal, publicly-funded health care regime. Dental care, outside of a hospital setting, does not constitute a ‘medically necessary’ service for the purpose of maintaining health as per the Canada Health Act (1964). There are three components to the Canadian health system that exist today: universal, publicly-funded coverage for physician and hospital services (known as Medicare); goods and services such as home care, long-term care, and prescription drugs which are funded either privately (through insurance or out-of-pocket), or publicly (through targeted subsidies or direct delivery programs); and finally, private health care services which include dental care.1 Costs for

A woman name Angela Hundley and her family were away on a family vacation in the Dominican Republic. While there Angela ate fish that caused her to become very ill. Two weeks after they returned home from their vacation she was diagnosed with ciguatera poisoning. She could not open her eyes or lift her head. The doctor informed the family that the poisoning was untreatable, and an incurable. Angela felt like she was in a comma, she couldn’t move but she could hear everything. She could hear her children playing but she couldn’t play with them. She remembers her husband taking her to her church for prayer and at the alter she recalls her pastor asking her “Angela have you thanked God through any of this, even if you don’t see another day,

Canada is a country composed of many different people from many different cultures including some native indigenous people, much like the United States. Similar to many other countries, Canada is attempting to become more culturally conscious and provide culturally-competent healthcare. According to Leininger and McFarland (2002), “there is an urgent need to integrate the many cultures of Canada into a harmonious, functioning society using sound cultural care research-based data in practice” (p. 494). Although the movement towards transcultural nursing care began in the 1960s when Leininger visited Canada to promote the study of transcultural nursing, it is still a work in progress as there are not a great number of nurses prepared by formal education to promote and develop transcultural nursing care (Leininger & McFarland, 2014). Canada’s current health care system is “publicly financed, but privately run” and based on the five founding principles that mandate the health care must be universal, portable, comprehensive, accessible and publicly administered (Cackett, Ferguson, & Irvine, 2005). The ten provinces within Canada are individually responsible for funding, developing and assessing the provisions of hospital care, providing salaries to health professionals and determining reimbursement for physician services (Cackett, Ferguson, & Irvine, 2005).

The National healthcare debate is one that has been a continuing arguing point for the last decade. The goal is to provide healthcare to all Americans, regardless of whether they are able to afford insurance or not. In 2009, the U.S. National Health Care Act failed to come to be debated in the house. This Act would have called for the creation of a universal single-payer health care system. Under the policies this Act would enact, all medically-necessary medical care decided between doctor and patient would be paid for automatically and directly by the Government of the United States. In place of this Act, the compromise was the

There are currently a number of seemingly irresolvable issues plaguing Ontario’s healthcare system. For one thing, the system is characterized by rising costs and reduced government spending which stem from critical public perception. There is also a prominence of fraudulent claims and spending that can be attributed to a lack of transparent and shared data, as well as administrative errors. Moreover, this lack of shared data is facilitating double-dosing and prescription drug abuse. Furthermore, medical errors are claiming the lives of a striking number of patients as there is no centralized source for collecting data about faulty medical equipment. Security of patient data is also a growing concern and the lack of secure encryption software and the amount of data transfer over unprotected networks should be minimized. Limited data integration reduces optimization possibilities resulting in notoriously long wait times and an ever-growing lack of family physicians. The underlying cause surrounding all of these issues can be attributed to an overarching lack of shared data and integration is due to the provinces mishandling of contract awards, resulting in a subpar return on digital investments.

Historical factors play a fundamental role in the evolution of a nation’s health system. (Starr P., 1982) The healthcare in Canada on 18th century was based in independent physicians who provided services at the patient’s homes. Hospitals were associated with the poor and were avoided due to the lack of care provided. Although the government’s role in healthcare through the 19th century was limited, the first hospital established in Quebec in the year 1639. Furthermore, the first medical schools were opened in the 1820s (Warren P., 2008). The nation’s growth created a simultaneous growth in the hospital setting. After the opening of the Montreal General Hospital on 1819, the education of the physicians and the patient care began to shift to the hospitals. (Bernier J, 2003).

Canada 's health care system is a group of socialized health insurance plans that provides coverage to all Canadian citizens. It is publicly funded and administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. Under the health care system, individual citizens are provided preventative care and medical treatments from primary care physicians as well as access to hospitals, dental surgery and additional medical services. With a few exceptions, all citizens qualify for health coverage regardless of medical history, personal income, or standard of living. In addition to public health care providers such as primary care doctors and hospitals, many private clinics offering specialized services also operate in Canada.

Have you ever had the privilege of witnessing a miracle? I have. However, I will say the prerequisite for a miracle is a problem. I have also had my heart crushed by the devastation of disease and sickness. But today…Today (April 6, 2010), I witnessed another miracle. My husband, Kevin was placed in the hospital on February 25, 2010 and by 11:00 p.m. he had been placed in ICU. The reports indicated that he may lose his respiratory system, due to lesions seen on an MRI image. By this point, Kevin was unable to move from the waist down, and we did not even have a diagnosis. Just three weeks prior, he had been up walking and helping me during my arm surgeries. Now, our world was flipped upside down.