Еssay – Canadian Health Care: Not For Sale

Canadian healthcare system is funded by the government. This system was implemented in 1962 by the Canada Health Act. Moreover, Canadian government reimburses the cost of the treatment of their citizens outside the country. The main goal of such system was to make healthcare available for all citizens of the country regardless of their income and social position. Public administration is an important factor which provides a control over healthcare.  Different Canadian provinces and territories provide their own healthcare plans but they are all governed by the administration of the country.  This means that coverage of certain medical services, such as dental services, hearing aids and home treatment may vary inside the country.

I think that free healthcare system in Canada is a perfect example which proves that Canadian government cares about its citizens.  Treatment is an expansive expenditure and in many countries such treatments does not make part of the state budged. Canadian authorities made this important step in order to satisfy the needs of their citizens. In many counties which do not have a free healthcare system poor citizens can not afford treatment. They have to limit their needs in order to go the course of treatment of even have to stay without necessary medical help. All Canadian citizens have an opportunity to get most of the necessary medical services regardless of their income. Care about the health of the citizens in one of the primary task of the government and Canadian authorities prove this thesis.  If Canadian healthcare system was not free many citizens would not be able to receive necessary treatment. People with low level of income would not be able to afford many medical services. Financing of the healthcare system not only proves that state authorities care about the health of their citizens. This way state authorities invest to the health of the entire nation. This must have a long lasting positive effect for the entire Canadian nation. Investment on the sphere of healthcare always has long run and positive consequences. Those countries which do not invest money in the health of their citizens are most likely to meet serious problems in the future. Canadian healthcare system has two sources of funding. First of all it is funded by the federal government. The second source of funding comes from the provincial governments.

Most part of the governmental funding goes to hospitals.  During the last several years government often address the service of Private Public partnerships. These private companies give healthcare services to the citizens for the money they get from the government. “According to a Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health for 2002”“2003, undertaken by Statistics Canada and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 87% of Canadians are somewhat or very satisfied with their overall healthcare services” (Canada/United States Survey of Health).  These rates are convincing and they prove that Canadian healthcare system corresponds to the needs of the major part of the country population. Despite generally high rates of healthcare service in Canada there are still certain problems in this sphere.  First of all some distanced districts of Canada and some rural areas lack qualified professionals in the field of healthcare.  Healthcare in Southern part of the country has considerably higher standards than the healthcare system of the rest of the country. The quality of healthcare became an object of loud debates during the recent time. Some participants of these debates believe that governmental funding of the healthcare system results in the low quality of medical service. The question about canceling of the free healthcare system arose. According to the latest research the quality of medical care has also decreased in comparison to previous decades.  There are several possible reasons of such phenomena. Lack of motivation is another problem with this kind of healthcare system.

Doctors, nurses and other representatives of healthcare system do not feel financially motivated for their good performance. This can become a possible reason of the reduce of healthcare quality. Long lines which ill people have to meet waiting for the necessary specialists is another problem rooted in the free healthcare. “According to a study by the Fraser Institute, a conservative think tank, such waiting times have increased from 13.1 weeks in 1999, to 17.7 weeks in 2003, to 17.9 in 2004. Long waits to undergo elective surgery have also become an issue in recent years, as have crowded emergency rooms in the country’s largest cities”(Fraser Institute study).

From the one side there are some disadvantages of free healthcare system. Some parts of the country face lack of good and qualified specialists. Long period patients have to wait for treatment and diagnostics reduce the quality of healthcare provided to people. Despite present healthcare system has certain demerits it is still designed in a way which can satisfy the demands of all social layers. If free healthcare system is cancelled poor citizens will not be able to get normal medical care. I believe that the government of the county should pay much attention on the study of the free healthcare merits and demerits in order to make a right decision.