(S.14) Canada's Healthcare System Flashcards
What is the Constitution Act of 1867
- Law passed by the British parliament that created Canada
- law specifies shared/individual responsibilities of the federal government and the provinces/territories they were bringing together
Federalism
divides authority among levels of government, and intentionally restricts the powers of the central government
T or F: federalism provides the provinces & territories with no power
F: Gives more power to provinces & territories
T or F: most of health care is under provincial jurisdiction
T
what powers do sections 92(a) and 92(16) of the constitution act set out for provinces
○ Section 92(a): “The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals”
○ 92(16): “Generally all Matters of a merely local or private Nature in the Province.”
Why can’t Canada have a national health care system
because constitutional responsibility for health care largely rests at the provincial/territorial level
Assisted Human Reproduction Act
federal act prohibiting IVF & cloning
- Quebec immediately challenged
- 2010: Supreme Court of Canada and they agreed
- IVF was scrapped, prohibition against cloning remains
what is an example of tension between provincial healthcare & federal criminalization
Safe injection site
○ Federal: criminal prohibitions against these narcotics
○ Provincial: doing a healthcare service, which is a provincial matter
- Argued prohibition of these sites were a violation of people’s charter rights to the security of person
Canada Health Act (1984)
○ federal legislation for publicly funded health care insurance
○ framework to find consistency and standards for provinces to adhere to
T or F: Canada health act is a direct consequence of federalism
T
Canada Health Act sets out the primary objective of Canadian health care policy:
to _____, _____ and _____ the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers
protect, promote and restore
what is the federal governments primary purpose in healthcare
funding
Canada Health Act sets out criteria and conditions related to insured health services/ extended health care services that the provinces and territories must fulfill to receive the full federal cash contribution under the ______
Canada Health Transfer
Five conditions that provincial health insurance plans must meet when delivering health care to receive Canada Health Transfer
- comprehensiveness
- universality
- accessibility
- portability
- public administration
Comprehensiveness
= Provincial insurance plans must insure all “insured health services” provided by physicians or within hospitals
○ Insured health services: hospital/physician/surgical dental services
○ Uninsured = prescription renewals by phone, cosmetic services, doctors note
Under comprehensiveness condition, services must be deemed medically ____ to be insured
= necessary
○ Fight between provincial and federal gov. to determine what is necessary
○ Up to provincial health insurance plans (OHIP .etc) to determine
Universality
= Provincial insurance plans must cover 100% of insured health services for ALL insured persons under uniform terms and conditions
- Insured person (citizen)
- Can’t change conditions based on arbitrary factors
Accessibility
= Provincial insurance plans must provide insured health services in a manner that is “reasonably accessible” to all insured persons
· Ex. no user charges or extra billing/fees
· Must also provide reasonable compensation to its health professionals
Most debates around what “reasonably” means regards the absence or provision of ______ or ______
user charges or extra billing/fees
- Stop being reasonable when you can get an MRI in 24hrs if you pay 1k - excludes those who cannot afford
Portability
= requires certain coverage for insured residents when temporarily out of province, and specifies the waiting period before a resident moving to a new province/territory is eligible for insured health services (can’t exceed 3 months)
T or F: portability is covered if you travel across provinces and get sick
T: other province will bill Ontario
T or F: Portability condition does not apply outside of Canada
F: can bill OHIP for what they would have paid if you get injured in the US
Taken together, the 5 conditions in the Canada Health Act ensure what is referred to as ________ or ________
(Generally referred to as _______)
= universal health coverage’ or ‘universal health care’
Generally referred to as ‘Medicare’
Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)
Government-run health insurance plan for Ontario
- Pays for a wide range of health services by funding hospitals, reimbursing physicians for their services, etc
○ They bill OHIP and OHIP pays for their services
How is OHIP funded
- taxes paid by Ontario residents and businesses
- ‘transfer payments’ by the Government of Canada
Canada health transfer
the transfer of cash from the federal government to provincial / territorial governments
- Made on an equal per capita basis based on population