Introduction
Among the most developed healthcare systems around the globe is the Canadian healthcare system. It is characterized by a group of healthcare insurance plans aimed at providing the healthcare coverage to all the citizens (Lindenberg 1). Healthcare services in Canada are offered at the territorial or provincial levels, and the federal government policies and frameworks are set to guide the operations of the system. Worth noting is that the Canadian healthcare is publicly funded. All the citizens of the country are entitled to affordable health care through the public, or even the private means (Sawyer 256). Besides, the system does not recognize the disparities exhibited by human beings as related to the standards of living, the personal income levels, or even the medical history.
The entire system of health care spanning from the primary or home-based care to the hospitalized is well coordinated by the federal government to ensure that quality services are delivered to the populations (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). Nevertheless, the system of health care has faced a considerable attention with criticism being leveled on the competence of the system to serve competitively the needs of the populations. Among other issues, forming subjects to political debates is on the suitability of the public system as against the private system as is the case in the US (Sawyer 256). On the other hand, fears are raised on the adoption of the privatized system of health care because it can institute inequalities where only the wealthy would access or afford some forms of specialized healthcare attention. Therefore, in spite of being labeled as one of the most effective healthcare systems in the world, the Canadian healthcare faces various challenges. This paper, therefore, presents a qualitative analysis of the entire Canadian health care system as illustrated from literature and evaluates the system strengths as well as weaknesses.
- 1. The Canadian Healthcare
In spite of the aforementioned political debate, Canada prides itself in operating an effective healthcare system. In fact, this can be illustrated by the presence of high life expectancy rates and lower child mortality rates as compared to other first world countries (Lindenberg 1). The system has been a dominant source of national pride to the citizens of the country for many years. Being given the title of “Medicare,” the Canadian healthcare is privately run but publicly funded. Healthcare services are provided free at the point of consumption, and the running of the system is guided by five main principles (Lindenberg 1). These principles are that the health care services must be publicly administered, be universal, be comprehensive, be portable, and the care services must be easily accessible. However, it is worth noting that the adherent to these principles is often cited as the primary source of controversies in the whole debate about the suitability of the healthcare in Canada. The national health insurance plan has the characteristic of local control consumer choice as well as the feature of doctor autonomy (Lindenberg 1). As such, the patients are accorded the rights to choose a hospital as well as a physician to attend to them. The provincial governments in the country are the primary healthcare providers. They are constitutionally mandated to plan, finance, and evaluate the healthcare system at large. Besides, the provincial administrations supervise the fixing and negotiating the health workers’ salaries, an initiative that forms the main point of disparity between all the governments. The differences are also notable in the public insurance offered (Lindenberg 1).
The development of the Medicare
From the year 1971, all the Canadians were allowed to access all kinds of health care services without being discriminated against from the lines of financial status, income, employment or even the health status (Makarenko 1). However, the campaigns towards universal healthcare systems could date back to 1944 when the state of Saskatchewan led other states towards embracing the universal hospital insurance. In fact, by 1958, although with the facilitation of the federal government, all the states had embraced the framework of universal access to healthcare through universal hospital insurance (Makarenko 1). Besides, the federal government took an active role in facilitating the accessibility of healthcare service in the country through taking 50-50 responsibility with the provincial administrations.
Over the years, the healthcare system in Canada has been facilitated by tax funds (Makarenko 1). Although the federal government shares the national revenues to the provincial administrations, the provincial administrations are also entitled to committing considerable amounts of the levies collected towards facilitating the public healthcare services. The private providers who are wholly funded through the public finances predominantly offer healthcare services. Most of the hospitals are independent and non-profit making and they have their own governance structures (Makarenko 1). Besides, the physicians in services within the hospital systems are often in private practice and receive remunerations through the fee-for-service basis. However, some physicians opt to walk out of the hospitalized system but are restricted through the policies, which control them from charging fees higher than the one set by the provincial administration. In fact, that concern could explain the increased risk associated with the option of opting out of the provincial system (Makarenko 1).
Another attribute of the Canadian healthcare is that although the Medicare services are free, rationing is a reality as resources are not readily free. In fact, the rationing principles have been in use for the purposes of regulating the pressure that have been gradually mounting in the health sector especially on expenditure (Makarenko 1). The Canadian health care restricts all the Canadians against purchasing health care service from the private providers whenever the services have been publicly paid. Besides, the private insurance schemes are prohibited from being used in the purchase of the “core services” otherwise provided for by the government. On the contrary, the private insurance plans are used in the purchase of the “non-core services” in the medical field (Makarenko 1). It is worth noting that the institutional frameworks that managed the healthcare system in Canada over the past years have been gradually changing. Currently, the country has a privatized healthcare system run parallel with the public system. However, the gradual movement towards embracing the parallel run of the private and the public systems of healthcare in Canada has been a contentious issue owing to the public opinions raised in the challenge of the movement (Makarenko 1).
Background of Canada
Canada is a country found in North America and consists of ten provinces including the British Columbia, Newfoundland, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. Other provinces are together with Alberta and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan (Raisa 21-24). Besides, there are the three territories of Northwest Territories, Nunavut territories as well as the Yukon Territory. Geographically, Canada is located between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and lies northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the world’s second biggest country and has a land area of 3,511,003 square meters (9,093,507 sq km) and a total area of 3,855,102 square meters (9,984,670 sq km) (Raisa 24).
Canada is a federal state where a state’s power is shared between two sets of governments; one national and other sub-national and, in this case, the provincial government (Raisa 21-24). The two powers operate directly upon the people and are not opposed to each other. Canada has a democratic government through the parliament and a monarchy to govern the citizens. The constitutional division of power is established between democratic government and the monarchy (Raisa 21-24). Besides, Canada has diverse cultures, owing to its multi-ethnic nature. The country has a population of approximately 34,300,083 persons with a growth rate of about 0.78%. Canada’s infant mortality rate is 4.85/1000, and the life expectancy rate is 81.48 (Raisa 21-24). While the life expectancy figures are among the highest in the world, the population density is three persons per square kilometer according to the 2012 population estimate.
Federalism as well as the Healthcare System
The interplay between the provision of health care by the private sector and the financing of the public sector explains the characterization of the Medicare system as a mixed system. The Canadian government has the overall mandate of exercising authority over the healthcare system and the providers. The main feature of the Canadian healthcare system is federalism (Lasser, David and Steffie 1300). As a federation, the political power of the country is divided between the national government and the provincial government structures. The federal government otherwise regarded as the Canadian government is the supreme authority, which is mandated to run the country per the supreme constitution of the country (Raisa 21-24).
There are other subdivisions by which the country is run, and these are regarded as the regional or sub-national governments. These subdivisions are what this paper regards as provinces and the respective government institutions as the provincial governments. Accordingly, these areas enjoy different levels and privileges of jurisdictions as regards the public policy. However, under the Supreme Canadian Constitution, the health care system falls strategically under the provincial governments. As such, these governments reserve the primary authority in enacting laws and policies to govern and regulate the health care (Lasser, David and Steffie 1300). Nevertheless, the regulation of the healthcare system by the provincial governments does not imply that the federal government is non-Party to the running of the healthcare system in the country. On the contrary, the national government has the constitutional powers over the system through spending. Besides, the national government regulates food policing as well as drug safety, hence the perceived active role of the government in the entire healthcare system of the country (Lasser, David and Steffie 1300). In spending, the constitution of the country allows the government to facilitate direct funding of the sector or indirect funding through insurance schemes. In other instances, the federal government plays an oversight role of the provincial governments and influences policymaking on health care services (Raisa 21-24).
Healthcare delivery
The ways by which the medical services are provided, organized, and managed in Canada explains the process of health care delivery as interpreted in this paper. In fact, in the recent past, the sector has become a leading employer in the Canadian economy (Lindenberg 1). The primary employees of the sector are the doctors, at this moment referred to as the physicians, the nurses, and other facilitators like the laboratory personnel or such other employees. The Medicare system in Canada has three sub-divisions that include the primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, and the additional care services (Lindenberg 1). The physicians and the doctors offer the primary or first care services. In the second case, the healthcare recovery system represents the supporting services such as specialized medical services while the third represents an additional care service.
Financing
In Canada, just as is the case with other Western economies, the medical services are often highly appreciated from the payments by the insurance and the use of out-of-pocket payment modes (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). The latter method of financing explains the requirement of the system where the patents cover some costs of medical services. Other elements of the system require that the patient meets some or all of the costs incurred in accessing the health care. In the case of cost sharing, the patients meet only some percentage of the entire cost incurred while such facilitators as the insurance firms complete the rest. The insurance as the predominant mechanism by which the healthcare service costs are met in Canada explains the means by which the citizens pull financial resources together and contribute towards the same challenge (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). The people participate willingly in contributing towards common funds which then facilitates the payments of medical expenses incurred instead of having individuals pay for their expenses when incurred. However, the insurance sector in Canada is expressed in the form of private health insurance and the public health insurance. The federal, together with the provincial governments, facilitate the public insurance systems, while the private or non-governmental entities manage the private insurance schemes (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). Another distinction is that while the public insurance covers the medical costs of the larger segment of the population, the private insurance schemes cover the financial costs of only a limited segment of the society. The public insurance is funded by the federal government through taxation or by the individuals through the social security financing. On the contrary, the individuals through privately remitted premiums or even premiums remitted by the employers service the private insurance schemes (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6).
- The Canadian Healthcare Structure
Just as with many other economies, the Canadian government allows the participation of both the private and public sectors in the healthcare system (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). The participation of the federal and the provincial governments in the facilitation of healthcare service delivery explains the public interests illustrated in the Canadian system. Besides the funding, the government participates directly in policy frameworks in the health sector (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). The public sector involves the participation of the federal government and the provincial governments. Under the provincial government structures, the regional agencies or the local and municipal governments manage the process of healthcare delivery (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6).
The private sector is comprised of profit, and nonprofit making organizations in the country. However, the Canadian Medicare is regarded as among the most improved systems as it embraces the mixed system of participation (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). As such, the private system operates alongside the public system in the country’s healthcare system. The territories or provinces are primarily concerned with delivering appropriate and affordable healthcare to the people residing within these territories (Flood and Amanda 320). However, the participation of the federal government in facilitating funding cannot be overlooked. The improved system of service delivery in Canada has been associated with the betterment of the healthcare system and the improved performance of the country in terms of citizen health across the globe. In fact, Canada prides in the legacy of high levels of life expectancy as well as the reduced mortality rates, especially in the infants (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6). The government sets and administers national principles of management of the healthcare system through the “Canada Healthcare Act.” Secondly, the government is mandated to monitor the implementation process of the Act. Thirdly, the government takes an active role in facilitating scientific studies in the medical discipline to facilitate the discovery of new knowledge while at the same time tapping into new talents. Through such efforts, the federal government ensures that the entire system of healthcare is effectively managed in the industry (Irvine, Shannon and Ben 1-6).
Competition in healthcare provision in Canada is kept at the minimum because the government policy ensures that a substantial amount of the public revenues is channeled towards service delivery (Flood and Amanda 320). The program embraced ensures that all individuals possess the health card issued by the provincial health ministry. With the card, all people access equal nature of treatment in service delivery, and that discourages the citizens from enrolling for different because they all serve the same purpose. In fact, the government ensures that the essential or basic care is offered to all people, including specialized services such as the maternity services (Flood and Amanda 320). However, in some provinces, specialized attention is accorded when due in such instances of emergency and whenever the patient requires hospitalization. Besides, there are other forms of medical attention that are not understood as the core services like plastic surgery, and these are not inherently facilitated through the public healthcare plans. However, the universal healthcare system embraced by Canada stands unique in that it does not cover the prescription medication (Flood and Amanda 320). In many of the provinces, the pharmaceutical prescriptions are paid for by the out-of-pocket means of through the private insurance schemes. However, the federal, as well as the territorial governments, take an active role in negotiating for affordable prices of the medication for the populations (Flood and Amanda 320).
The residency requirements
The federal and territorial governments in Canada appreciate that at any one time, there could be people in transit or even tourists residing within the regions covered (Flood and Amanda 320). As such, the respective government has worked to create the frameworks that restrict the “foreigners” from accessing the universal healthcare system. Through the Canada Health Act, the system defines and qualifies the eligible persons to benefit from the health care system. Hence, there is the provision of the residency requirements (Flood and Amanda 320). However, for the native Canadians, one can access medical attention within other territories and the system initiates reciprocity mechanisms by which the services offered to foreign Canadians are compensated accordingly. Therefore, the system recognizes the operations of healthcare cards from the different Canadian territories and the law requires that the cards should be produced at the point of request.
The outcome of the Canadian healthcare system has over the years been commended due to the facilitation of improved health for the subjects (Flood and Amanda 320). The outcomes in improved life expectancy and such other indicators make Canada among the effective healthcare systems in the world. However, one could be interested in understanding the strengths and the weaknesses that could be pointed out in the current Canadian health care system.
Part 2
The main drivers of health care expenditure
Over the years, the health care sector in Canada has had great changes as influenced by various factors hereby regarded as the health care drivers. The most effect is felt through the rising costs of the management of the devolved sector in the country. Among other factors that have been shown to affect the operations of the healthcare department in the country is income growth in the country, the aging population, the social, economic factors as well as the effects of technological innovation (Skinner 1). In fact, the estimated effects of these drivers are majorly in monetary terms, and they are assumed to contribute towards a steady annual escalation of the medical costs within the economy (Skinner 1). The cost drivers imply that the public investment from both levels of government will have to keep rising to manage the burden being alleviated. However, if the governments were to maintain the heath care expenditure at manageable levels, then some decisions on the priority areas within the health care sector must be made.
Income growth
The income levels among the citizens of any country are used as the primary in dictator of the standards of living that the citizens lead. However, in the discipline of health economics, the demand for healthcare by individuals rise with a rise in the income levels in a phenomenon regarded as the income effect (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). Therefore, in developed or wealthier nations, the demand for health care services is predominantly high when compared to the demand within the poor economies. Canada is classified as a developed country and therefore, the effect of income on the government expenditure on healthcare is considerably high. With the levels of income being considerably high in the country, there is, therefore, the implication that the population consumes higher levels of medical services (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). Worth noting is that the levels of incomes are not expected to fall at any one time in the future and hence the expectation that the government expenditure on health care would keep rising. The income effect in Canada portrays a projection of a continued increase in the demand for the health care and as such increased expenditure by the government in the sector of public health (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). However, one would be interested in understanding the income distribution in the country.
In the past decade, Canada has recorded a significant change in the levels of incomes by the citizens. In particular, the difference has been pointed out to the increase in the widening of the gap levels in incomes between the rich and the rest of the people in the country (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). The widening gap in wealth status has been explained by the continued accumulation of wealth by the wealthy segment of the society while the majority of the poor and the middle class stagnate or grow poorer. Various factors could explain the observable growth in the inequality gap in the economy (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). For instance, the shift in manufacturing levels as attributed to technological advancement could explain the efficiencies in industrial production and the associated lay-off of the human labor. Secondly, there has been a notable decrease in unionization and a rise in self-employment levels among the Canadians. The effects of such factors are the increased wealth accumulation by the owners of the production factors and the low incomes of the least skilled segments of the society (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). Among other sectors that are directly influenced by the effects of the widening income gap is the health care sector that faces the reality of increased demand by the wealthy and the associated burden on the government budgets (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-27).
Greater income disparities have direct effects on health outcomes of Canada (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). That could be perceived as a contrast to the country where health care is primarily expected to be an equalizer. In fact, the low-income families are least expected to have personalized or family doctors or even seek early intervention in medical situations as is the case with the rich. The outcome being experienced is a compromised health care for the people within the lower income segment during the rich increasingly enjoy improved healthcare (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 25-31). The increased dependence on the public health care services explains the increased burden that the Canadian government bears in facilitating the ‘universal health care’ in the country.
Ageing population
The demographic features of the Canadian economy reveal a gradual increase in the elderly as explained by the improved higher life expectancy in the country (Crawley 1). In spite of the perceived advantage of having people live longer, the surety of increased health burden due to the associated vulnerability to diseases among the aged cannot be overlooked. As such, higher populations of the aged people within the economy spell out the certainty of increased cost of health care. The old age is associated with the increase if chronic diseases like diabetes, the kidney diseases and high blood pressure among others (Crawley 1). In fact, it is a common feature to have all the elderly people suffer at least one chronic condition that then explains their constant movement from one specialist to another and take high volumes of medications. Besides, the associated inefficiencies and inconveniences, the elderly health conditions are presumably quite costly as associated with hospitalized care services as well as the home care services. Finally, the aged are associated with the particular issue of high rates of hospital re-admissions that are equally associated with influencing the costs of health care that the governments must bear (Crawley 1).
Strategic management of health conditions among the health care professionals has had strategies to have the elderly assigned teams of medical professionals to manage their conditions continuously. The primary concern of the financial burden for the healthcare sector in Canada is explained by the prevalence of then chronic disease as pointed out above (Crawley 1).
Just as is the case with many other industrialized countries, the prevalence of chronic diseases is a reality in Canada (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). In particular, the aged suffer from the diseases associated with high-risk factors and that are associated with increased rates of impairment and functional disability. The most prevalent chronic diseases in Canada affecting the elderly are together with cardiovascular conditions, mental illnesses, cancer and even diabetic condition (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). Besides the associated diminished quality of life and pain suffered by the patients, there is the larger effect of the associated costs as born by the governments. Lifestyle factor such as smoking exposes the aged to a higher risk of contracting terminal illnesses as the lung cancers and which then requires many resources for management. Other effects are exposure to obesity and the related health complications. For instance, obesity causes many of cardiovascular conditions, cancers, and diabetes among other complications in the health of the victims and that require considerable amounts finances to manage (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). Other risk factors associated with the majority of the elderly in Canada are together with physical inactivity that then contributes to increased weight gain and whose management equally attracts higher levels of resources. Worth noting is that while all the above factors contribute towards increased risks of health complications among the elderly, age itself is a risk factor. The elderly people are always at higher risks of suffering health conditions, and as the government strives to live to the policy of universal health care to all the Canadians, then the demographic segment of the aged are blamed for contributing to higher costs (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23).
In general, the costs associated with delivering health care to the aged people in Canada are in the facilitation of the health care and the associated planning (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). For instance, the health department must design an effectively coordinated strategy for management of the lifestyle diseases affecting the age segment. Secondly, the government must set aside some amounts of revenues to address the specific opportunistic chronic diseases besides running appropriate prevention campaigns (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). Finally, research and the actual medication programs attract considerably high amounts of funds and as such, the increased elderly segment is a direct factor that affect the expenditure in the healthcare sector of the country (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 20-23). As such, the aging population is perceived as a direct driver of the health care expenditure in Canada.
Social-economic factors
Among the many factors considered social economic in nature and whose influence on the expenditure of the health care in Canada is together with the education levels as well as the factors of employment and housing (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). While these factors could be indirectly related to the factor of levels of income by the population, one must appreciate that they have an arguably independent role in driving the levels of government expenditure on health care of the populations in Canada.
Employment: Just as is the case with many other economies, the participation of people in paid employment and especially the full-time kind of employment explains the adequacy of incomes as the citizen realize. Higher levels of income contribute to increased personal esteem and standard of living of the person (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). Besides, the levels of activity explained by the levels of employment by the people have a direct effect in explaining the health conditions of the people. Moreover, high rates of unemployment are associated with increased cases of mental illnesses that directly affect the levels of government spending in medical care in the country. It is to be noted that the levels of employment in the country, just as is the case with the majority of the developed economies are currently increasing due to the effect of mechanization of industrial production and that spells out an increased likelihood of higher government expenditure on medical care in the future (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). Besides, low rates of employment have direct implication towards the income levels of the people, and as noted earlier, increased levels of the poor imply higher dependence rates on the government expenditure in healthcare.
Education: As could be expected, education is a critical factor that influences the position of people on social and economic matters and, therefore, their health needs. High levels of education are often associated with improved health conditions of the populations, and the contrary is equally true (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). Moreover, higher attainment in education has been always associated with increased productivity and revenues that then related the factor to the effects of employment and financial incomes realized and the effects on the health care spending.
Housing: Basic to understanding the subject of healthcare is the essence of understanding the living conditions in which people live. People who live in overcrowded conditions, dumpy areas or even who are exposed to extreme weather conditions are often likely to suffer poor health than is the case with the people living in good shelters (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). Although Canada has had great success in ensuring that the citizens live in relatively comfortable shelters, there are still people who suffer the reality of bad shelter. With changing economic times, the Canadians are experiencing high costs of rental houses and which then directly influences their affordability of such living conditions (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). However, the increased rates of poor housing could spell out a possible increase in medical field medical needs hence the possible increase in government spending on the health care service.
The other factors of social, economic nature that have a direct effect on the spending on health care within Canada are together with the environment within which the people live, the food security, social support as well as interconnectedness and the general working conditions of the employed (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 100). As such, the discussion confirms the effect of social-economic factor drivers of the health care expenditure in Canada.
Healthcare technology
Unlike the effects of technology in other industries which are often positive in lowering the costs of production assn improving performance, the use of technology in the healthcare sector in Canada is associated with higher costs (Skinner 1). Health care technology is particularly blamed for raising the input costs as different health conditions require the purchase or use of different and often unique technology (‘The Conference Board of Canada’ 63). The costs of purchasing and managing the technologies are often quite high and as such, with such a system as that of universal provision of health care by the government as is in Canada, then the government keeps incurring higher costs in purchase and management of the appropriate technologies (Skinner 1). Furthermore, the cost associated with remuneration of the technical teams operating the technologies is often huge and, therefore, driving the health care costs high (Skinner 1).
Strengths and weaknesses of the Canadian health care system
Strengths: The major commendable features of the Canadian health care system are together with the universal aspect, excellent care standards and good management of the funds for the sector. To start with, the system is shown to embrace the socialist system where all people are accorded arguably equal opportunities of access to the health care services (Lindenberg 1). As the name and the structures discussed above illustrate, the universal health care services ensure that all people access the care services equally. Secondly, the Canadian health care system is credited for being among the best globally due to the excellent standards that it embraces. Although some weaknesses are pointed out, the strength of the excellence observed while offering the health care services cannot be overlooked (Lindenberg 1). Finally, the system of health care in the country has been shown to be well coordinated, and much of the funds allocated are utilized efficiently. The least wastage of funds is pointed out as a great strength as it improves the standards of health care besides ensuring that as little as possible funding goes to the general administration of the sector (Lindenberg 1).
Weaknesses: In spite of the much strength that the social system of healthcare is associated with, the system has some strategic weaknesses that could require prompt improvement if the system was to realize the intended efficiency in delivering health care services to the Canadian citizens. First, the system of health care in Canada is criticized for being very costly despite the fact that it is government funded (Lindenberg 1). The criticism argues that the single model health care system works best in theory but not in the practical aspect as much of the countries revenues keep being channeled towards the system. Secondly, the health care decision-making process is highly politicized, and that is blamed for allowing room for biased decisions making process. Besides, the politicized decision-making process is equally slow and as such affect the smooth running of the system (Lindenberg 1). Third, a major weakness is pointed out in accessibility of the services where the increased demand for the services results to long waits before people can be served as not all people can afford family physicians. Furthermore, the health care system by the provincial administration and the national government is criticized for embracing the wrong framework of providing healthcare for the treatment as against prevention (Lindenberg 1). The system could be arguably more effective if the government restructured it to focus on preventive campaigns as against the treatment campaigns. Finally, another weakness could be pointed in the non-universality of the health care provision by the different territorial systems. The weakness could be argued from the perspective of having some systems better than the others and as such, there is unequal treatment of the Canadian citizens based on the region of residence (Lindenberg 1).
Conclusion
The Canadian system of health care has received a considerably high level of commendation as among the leading and improved systems across the world. The system embraces what has come to be appreciated as a socialized system of universal health care. Through the system, all people are treated equally in the access of health care. However, the healthcare system is publicly funded and embraces the federal system. Federalism in the health care implies that the system is managed from national level as well as from the territorial government structure. While the national government is only involved in policy and funding processes, the provincial governments take the most active role in managing the healthcare system. The operations of the Medicare system allow the collaboration of both the private and the public sector in offering the medical services. The operations of the system are governed by the supreme constitution of the country and among other strengths identified are together with the universalism embraced. Besides, the system has been shown to be efficient in the management of the funds and the observable good coordination of the entire system. However, the system has some strategic weaknesses among which are political interference and being relatively costly. The primary drivers of expenditure in the sector are together with the income growth, social, economic factors, technology as well as the demographics of aging people. However, this paper recommends effective management of the entire system to ensure that the costs are managed for efficiency and quality delivery of services.
Works Cited
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