Canada Immigration: How Does Canada Healthcare System work?

The healthcare system in Canada was established to address the issue of accessible and necessary medical and hospital services to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Canada Immigration: How Does Canada Healthcare System Work?

To that end, each of Canada’s provinces and territories funds and runs a state health insurance program.

There is no cost-sharing for health care services guaranteed by federal law.

While Canadian citizens and permanent residents are guaranteed access to hospital and medical services, it is up to each province to decide whether to cover these social benefits, such as dental care and drug coverage.

Canada is famed as one of the few countries with a publicly funded healthcare system; however, 30% of health spending comes from outside the government’s purse.

A 2011 study found that 60 percent of the medical bills are covered by employer-sponsored plans, and 35 percent are out-of-pocket spending.

Some Canadian legislators have made efforts to increase the scope of Canada’s public health plan to cover more services, but so far they have not been successful.

Although Canada’s health care system is funded publicly by taxes, many of the providers are not government employees.

Instead, the government usually reimburses doctors a negotiated fee for service. The average primary care physician in Canada makes $125,000.

The Cost Canada Healthcare System?

In 2009, Canada spent 11.4 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on health care, which places it at the slightly higher end of the OECD countries: An MRI that costs, on average, $1,200.

It could also be attributed to lower administrative costs: According to a report by the Health Affairs study, found that; American doctors spent $82,975, compared to Canadian doctors who spent $22,205 each year on what they spent on private insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid.

A quick analysis of this situation leads us to conclude that, despite everything, the Canadian health system has certain negative points.

How well does the Canadian health system work?

The OECD tends to give the Canadian health system a high score on results in its regular observation of international health care systems.

According to a report by the international organization, it is noted that Canada’s survival rates for breast and colorectal cancer are among the highest in the OECD

In primary care delivery, Canada has shown incredible performance, which has improved the healthcare industry and reduced the government expenditure on hospitalizations for uncontrolled diabetes and asthma.

However, Canada’s wait times tend to be longer than in other countries, especially to see specialists or get elective surgery.

A Commonwealth Fund survey found that 59% of respondents reported that they waited more than four weeks for a specialist appointment, more than double that in the United States, which is a negative situation for the Canadian healthcare system.

Canada has recently started taking steps to address this: in 2005, each province established evidence-based benchmarks for waiting times for various procedures.

“Canadian provinces have made significant progress with managing and reducing waiting times, which now see more patients get attended to,” the Commonwealth Fund found in the report.

The country’s investment in research and quality medical facilities has made Canada a destination for medical tourism, which has tremendously increased the country’s revenue. Canadian healthcare is rated as one of the best in the world.