Universal Health Care System In Canada

Medicare is a government funded universal health insurance program established in 1984. The health care system provides services for all citizens and permanent residents, thus allowing them to access the services throughout the country when they travel or move province to province. For many Canadians the social programs that the country provides its citizens is what makes Canada unique from its neighbor, the United States. However, many disagree with the concept of providing universal health care to its citizens while others are adamant that it is a basic need that should be provided.

To begin, there are many benefits to having a universal healthcare system. Medical care is accessible to all citizens and permanent residents within Canada,

To over come the lack of competition in the public health system, Canada can adopt the Scandinavian system. For example, Switzerland and Singapore have established programs similar to the Canadian public health care system and are the top 10 countries according to 2016 index of economic freedom. Switzerland and Singapore are also the most competitive countries on the Global Competitiveness Index. By following their system Canada can become decrease the cost of providing health care to all of its citizens. For example, the Swiss government subsidizes most of the cost for insurance, preventing citizens from spending more than 10% of their income on insurance. This is cheaper than paying for insurance through taxes since the cost changes with the income of the individual. Moreover, 10% of the citizen’s income is less than what the average Canadian indirectly pays for. The average income for an Ontario resident is $76,510, 10% of that income would be $7,651. This is less than what the average Canadian family pays for, $11,735, and much lower than what American citizens pay for, $16,351. Additionally, by making insurance privately funded to this extent, it allows for more competition between health insurance companies. Competition forces the insurance companies to provide the lowest price and highest quality of service in order to obtain more customers. In Switzerland, many of the citizens opt for cheaper packages that cover their basic needs. This has allowed 99.5% of the Swiss population to afford the health care that they need. Moreover, hospitals will be incentivized to compete with each other in order to obtain patients. This will help reduce the waiting time, and improve the quality of the hospital’s service. In 2008, Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), Switzerland scored 187 points out of 200 in hospital waiting time. This score tied with Albania, Belgium and