Canadian Health Insurance Act

Canada is known for its health-care system. The life expectancy rate in Canada is 80 years old, which may be due in part to the fact that almost all Canadian citizens have access to health care. The Canadian health-care system is not perfect nor did it get to where it is today overnight. It took several pieces of legislation, leading up to the 1984 Canada Health Act, for each province to be able to provide health insurance to its citizens.

History of Canadian Health Care

• During the worldwide Depression in the 1930s, the cost of living fell in Canada by 25 percent. The Canadian Museum of Civilizations reports that in the rural district of Ontario, "one doctor received 'twenty chickens, several ducks, geese, a turkey, potatoes and wood' as payment in 1933." After World War II, the liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King began establishing social welfare programs. In a 1949 Gallup poll conducted after federal elections, Canadians were asked if they would support a government-funded health plan to which they would contribute on a monthly basis. The vote was 80 percent in favor.

Acts of Significance

• The Medical Care Act of 1966 was designed to give health care to Canadian citizen regardless of their ability to pay. Some people called this socialism, even communism. The Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements and Established Programs Financing Act was established and took effect in 1977. Unlike the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act, its predecessor, it granted each province a lump sum of money to spend on health care and education.

The Canada Health Act of 1984

• The Canada Health Act of 1984 has five tenets: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility. Insurance is publicly administered and provided to citizens by each of the 13 provinces on a not-for-profit basis. All medically necessary procedures are covered by provincial insurance. The provinces are given the authority to define what constitutes a "medically necessary" procedure. Everyone is covered, with certain exceptions, and coverage cannot be denied based on a person's inability to pay premiums. Coverage is portable; e.g., if someone moves from one province to another, he can be assured of being covered during the transition period of changing from one province's insurance to another. To ensure accessibility, the federal government reserves the right to withhold transfer payments to any province that allows "private" or "extra billing" for insured services.

Provinces

• Each province has a health insurance act that lays out its individual rules and regulations pertaining to health insurance. The government gives provinces this authority but expects them to adhere to certain federal regulations. These set out the requirements for the structure of the thirteen individual health insurance plans in each of the provinces and territories. The health care system is not funded by the provinces alone; they receive transfer payments from the federal government for about 70 percent of the cost of health care.

Exceptions and Coverage

• There are exceptions for coverage. These include people who are already covered under a federal insurance plan, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, immigrants and those Canadians who lived outside the country and are now returning to take up permanent residency. Provincial health insurance covers doctor visits, hospital stays, physiotherapy, dental services, prescription medication and some other standard services. Corrective lenses, some medications, home care and other medical needs are not covered by provincial insurance. People may obtain private insurance to supplement these costs.