insurance for medically necessary services does not require Canada to give up its core value of universal health care. Let’s take Medicare down from its pedestal and start to experiment with different financing systems that will allow us to meet the changing demands Medicare faces in a way that continues to conform to our national values. Times change, and the world of MRIs and highcost prescription drugs is not the world that Medicare was designed for. If we make the right changes, our system will grow to become more efficient and more effective.
References Bevan, G., J. Helderman, and D. Wilsford (2010). Changing choices in health care: implications for equity, efficiency and cost. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 1, 5 (July): 251–267. Bevan, G., and W. Van De Ven (2010). Choice of providers and mutual healthcare purchasers: can the english national health service learn from the dutch reforms? Health Economics, Policy, and Law, 1, 5: 343–363. Canada Health Act, Revised Statutes of Canada (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-6) Department of Justice Canada. <http:// laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-6/FullText.html>. Cameron v. Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 1999 NSCA 204 NSR (2d) Detsky, A., and C. Naylor (2003). Canada’s health care system—reform delayed. The New England Journal of Medicine, 349, 8 (August): 804-810.
fraserinstitute.org
Flood, C., and A. Haugan (2010). Is Canada odd? A comparison of European and Canadian approaches to choice and regulation of the public/private divide in health care. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 1, 5 (July): 319–341. Health Canada (2011). Canada’s health care system. <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/pubs/systemregime/2011-hcs-sss/index-eng.php>, as of November 21, 2011. Mazankowski, D. (2001). A framework for reform. Premier’s Advisory Council on Health for Alberta. Newhouse, J. P., and The Insurance Experiment Group (1993). Free for All? Lessons from the RAND Health Insurance Experiment. Harvard University Press. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2011). OECD health data 2011. OECD. <http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0 ,3746,en_2649_37407_12968734_1_1_1_37407,00. html>, as of November 21, 2011. Rae, David (2005). Getting better value for money from Sweden’s healthcare system (ECO/WKP(2005)30). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]. Schwartz, Nelson (2009, September 30). Swiss health care thrives without public option. New York Times. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/health/ policy/01swiss.html?pagewanted=all>, as of November 21, 2011. Skinner, Brett J., and Mark Rovere (2010, October). Value for money from health insurance systems in Canada and the OECD. Fraser Alert. <http:// fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display. aspx?id=16774>, as of November 21, 2011.
Skinner, Brett J., and Mark Rovere (2011a). Canada’s Medicare Bubble: Is Government Health Spending Sustainable without User-based Funding? Fraser Institute. Steinbrook, Robert (2006). Private health care in Canada. The New England Journal of Medicine, 354, 16 (April): 1661-1664. Swedish Institute (2009). Health Care in Sweden. Swedish Institute. <http://www.sweden.se/upload/ Sweden_se/english/factsheets/SI/SI_FS_10_ Health%20care%20in%20Sweden/FS10-Healthcare-high-resolution.pdf>, as of November 21, 2011. Triggle, Nick (2005, November 28). How the NHS could learn from Sweden. BBC News.<http://newsvote.bbc. co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/ hi/health/4460098.stm>, as of November 21, 2011.
Notes 1 The only dental procedures the CHA requires the provinces to insure are surgical-dental procedures, that is, procedures “performed by a dentist in a hospital, where a hospital is required for the proper performance of the procedures” (Canada Health Act, 1985, s. 2).
Mark McGinley holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary, and is currently in his second year of a combined JD/MBA program at Dalhousie University.
Winter 2012
Canadian student review
22