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Affordable Health Insurance

Medicare and Health Insurance

Health Insurance In Canada, we have universal provincial health care coverage that provides us with coverage for medically necessary hospital, inpatient, and outpatient doctor's services. For the most part, our system works well. When we visit a hospital, we only have to show our provincial health cards to receive blood tests, x-rays, and other medical procedures.

Because of the high cost of financing our public system however, provincial coverage simply cannot cover everything. Consequently, there are some medical expenses that either you or your supplemental health insurance will have to pay for.

Even though our health care system is publicly financed, most doctors are private practitioners who work in independent or group practices, enjoy a high degree of autonomy, and are generally paid on a fee-for-service basis.

The Governments' Role

The federal government, and the provinces and territories, each have their own role to play in our health care system.

The federal government sets the standards for our health care system by passing legislation such as the Canada Health Act, and assists in the financing of provincial health care services through money transfers. The federal government is also responsible for delivering direct health services to certain groups -- veterans, native peoples, military personnel, inmates of federal penitentiaries, and the RCMP -- and for fulfilling other health-related functions such as health protection, disease prevention, and health promotion.

Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for managing and delivering health care services. They decide where hospitals will be located, how many physicians will be needed, and how much money to spend in the health care sector.