Canadian Healthcare System - Essay Example

This paper will explore the Canadian health system and discuss its structure and the way it functions. Further, the paper will analyze the Canadian health policy and later highlight the challenges that are facing the health policy and Canadian healthcare system in general. The write up will end with a comprehensive summary. Rationale Canada has socialized her healthcare system; her outstanding healthcare system has earned her a lot of reputation in the whole world (Brown 1987, p. 44). Canada scores an overall grade of B in the healthcare report card.

This shows that the country does not have extreme low grades compared to other peer countries (Mhatre & Raisa 1992, p.647). Canada receives many referral cases of medical complications from other countries. Many people adore the standards of the healthcare system of Canada. Many nations have used Canadian health system as a reference point for reforming and mainstreaming their healthcare facilities and systems (Brown 1987, p. 44). Before embarking on core health policy in Canada, the paper will present a brief overview of the origin and composition of Canadian health system, as well as the principles that govern it. . In the year 1962, the New Democratic Party government came up with the initial program of public Medicare.

Doctors did not like the program and they reacted by going on strike over the same. For three weeks, the health services in Canada got paralyzed by the strike. Later the strike ended, but the doctors won the bargain that gave them an influence over healthcare spending (Brown 1987, p. 44). The success of providing free public healthcare to the entire Canadian public was brought closer by the federal government, which created a national Medicare program. Further, the federal government consented to cater for half the bills of public Medicare.

Further, the Trudeau government shifted to block funding, which allowed the provinces to exercise more power in controlling health expenditure. This held the implication that, the Trudeau government would allocate a constant amount of money be used in the national medical expenditures (Mhatre & Raisa 1992, p.650). In the early 80s, the Canadian Health Coalition gave demands for the system of healthcare in Canada to follow a set of principles. These principles will be discussed later in the text.

In 1984, the Canadian health act was passed in parliament with a majority of votes. Canadian Healthcare System under the Canadian Health Act The Canada Health Act provides the overall structure of the Canadian Health System. The primary goal of the health act is to restore, promote and protect the mental and physical wellbeing of Canadians. Further, the health act aids reasonable contact to health examinations without any barriers. The legislation defines the principles that should be applied to govern