Health Care system at Canada

Hi all !

I came across your blog and thought to contribute my experiences with your readers. I am Nitishnan and I immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka in 2003. As in most parts of India and Pakistan, health system in Lanka is also too poor. Therefore, coming to Canada and being part of its excellent health care system was too good to be true for me, especially, when in my home country public health system was virtually non existent and private health care too expensive to be affordable by all.

As most are aware that Canada has been voted as no 1 country to live in and Vancouver has been voted as no 1 city in Canada to live in. this is not entirely without any reason. Its primary health care system provides services to all residents and has excellent set up to prevent health problems. What makes it great that should a health problem occur to any individual, it has excellent follow up system. Though tax structure here is considered as steep, this is primarily because in most asian countries from where immigrants come, tax evasion and tax avoidance is rampant.

However, here you would love paying taxes as your would come across host of facilities including health facilities which are funded by public funds.

In case, a patient is suffering from some major ailment requiring intensive diagnosis or treatment, he is referred for specialized care at a hospital or long-term care facility or in the community. Most good Canadian hospitals are operated by community boards of trustees, voluntary organizations or municipalities. In some cases these payments are subsidized by the provincial and territorial governments.

In many provinces, health care is free from day one. Should one need home care, Referrals for such home care can be made by doctors, hospitals, community agencies, families and potential residents. Such services as specialized nursing care, homemaker services and adult day care, are provided to people who are partially or totally incapacitated. Needs are assessed and services are coordinated to provide continuity of care and comprehensive care.

Some provinces also provide health services coverage to certain groups of people - seniors, children and social assistance recipients that are not generally covered under the publicly funded health care system. Such supplementary health benefits often include prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, medical equipment and appliances (prostheses, wheelchairs, etc.), independent living and the services of allied health professionals, such as podiatrists and chiropractors.

However, this health system, though is much better than what was offered to us by public health system back home has some limitations. To overcome its limitations, many Canadians have supplemental private insurance coverage through group plans, which covers the cost of these supplementary services. In fact, this is major cause of resentment in many provinces across Canada that so much of Canada’s already high tax goes towards it. The average Canadian family pays about 48 per cent of its income in taxes each year. Ontario, the most populous, spends around 40 per cent of its tax revenue on health.

The federal government and most provinces acknowledge there’s a lack of physicians and nurses, state-of-the-art equipment and funding. Despite some shortcomings in the health system, Canadians value their Medicare as a marker of egalitarianism and independent identity that sets their country apart from the United States, where some 45 million Americans lack health insurance.