Health Care In Canada Essay

895 Words4 Pages

Canada enjoys the benefits of a “universal” insurance plan funded by the federal government. The idea of having a publicly administered, accessible hospital and medical services with comprehensive coverage, universality and portability has its own complex history, more so, than the many challenges in trying to accommodate the responsibility of a shared-cost agreement between federal and provincial governments. (Tiedemann, 2008) Canada’s health care system has gone through many reforms, always with the intent to deliver the most adequate health care to Canadians. The British North American Act, Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act, Saskatchewan’s Medical Care Act, and the Canada Health Act are four Acts that have played an important …show more content…

(Boan, 2006) The experience of the Great Depression in the 1930’s left many in difficult financial situations. (Boan, 2006) Although, provinces helped with relief payments for food, clothing and shelter, medical costs were too much for the budget. (Boan, 2006) Many people were not receiving proper medical care, and for those that were the bills were just too high, as a result, causing death from preventable diseases. (Boan, 2006) Years of depression and war brought cooperation and agreement between the federal and provincial governments: The Green Book Proposal, “introduced a plan for comprehensive social security, including measures to promote full employment, contributory social insurance plans and universal public health insurance”. (Makarenko, 2008) This was not adopted because of the conflict between jurisdictions, but it left many with a vision. In the province of Saskatchewan, the plan for provincial insurance was pursued, despite lack of federal funding. (Brown & Taylor, 2012) The 1940s brought changes to the health system. In 1947 the Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas and his Party established the first Universal Hospital Care Plan known as the Hospital Insurance Act. (Boan, 2006) This Act, guaranteed every resident in the province health care. (Boan, 2006) His idea was that with a small annual premium this