Canadian Medicare — Canada’s universal, publicly funded health care system — was established through federal legislation originally passed in 1957 and in 1966.

Tommy Douglas championed public health insurance as Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and federal leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. Woodrow Lloyd was the Premier of Saskatchewan when universal medicare was introduced in Saskatchewan.

In 1984, the Canada Health Act bill was passed. This plan prohibits physicians to charge any additional fees and requires all health care insurance plans to meet specific standards, including public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility.

Canada’s universal, publicly funded health-care system—known as Medicare—is a source of national pride, and a model of universal health coverage. It provides relatively equitable access to physician and hospital services through 13 provincial and territorial tax-funded public insurance plans.

Countries with universal healthcare include Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Expanding public funding for cost-effective treatments, investing in primary care, embracing technology and engaging patients are some of the ways Canada can improve the quality of health care, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

UHC strategies enable everyone to access the services that address the most significant causes of disease and death and ensures that the quality of those services is good enough to improve the health of the people who receive them.

Canada’s universal health-care system If you’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you may apply for public health insurance. With it, you don’t have to pay for most health-care services. The universal health-care system is paid for through taxes. Each province and territory has their own health insurance plan.

The reality of Canadian health care is that it is comparatively expensive and imposes enormous costs on Canadians in the form of waiting for services, and limited access to physicians and medical technology. This isn’t something any country should consider replicating.

The social health insurance model is also referred to as the Bismarck Model, after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who introduced the first universal health care system in Germany in the 19th century.

Yet major challenges such as access to non-medicare services, wait times for specialist and elective surgical care, and fragmented and poorly coordinated care will continue to preoccupy governments in pursuit of improved health system performance.

Under the Canada Health Care Act of 1986, Canadians have universal access to health care, irrespective of income, employment, status, age or state of health.

Canada does not have “free” healthcare. No place has “free” healthcare. There are just different ways to pay for the cost. Some nations use a higher individual tax rate and value added taxes to pay for programs for their citizens.

By over a ten to one margin, Canadians prefer their own health care system over ours (82%-8%). 70% of them are either fairly satisfied, or very satisfied with the system. These are the results of a Harris/Decima poll published on July 5.

Canadians overall are at a high risk of cardiovascular diseases, but the risk can be even higher if you’re a woman. Heart disease is definitely one of the most common health problems in Canada.