KEY POINTS Chapter 2

• Canada's publicly funded health care system is best described as an interlocking

set of 10 provincial and 3 territorial health insurance plans.
• Medicare provides access to universal, comprehensive coverage for medically
necessary hospital and physician services. These services are administered and
delivered by the provincial and territorial governments and are provided at no
additional cost to the client.
• To receive their full share of federal funding for health care, the provincial and
territorial health insurance plans must meet five criteria :
1. comprehensiveness,
2. universality,
3. portability,
4. accessibility,
5. public administration
—that are provided in the federal government's Canada Health Act.

• Private insurance plans pay for these services with individual, out-of pocket
payments or through private health insurance plans New trends in health care
include
(a) alternative care in clinics,
(b) primary health care centres,
(c) community health centres,
(d) home care programs

As part of these reforms, provincial and territorial governments are now focused
on two areas:
(a) health promotion and disease prevention,
(b) home care.
Support workers provide most support services for home care
• Health care delivery is divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary delivery
categories.
- Primary care is aimed at preventing illness whenever possible.
- Tertiary health care delivery is the most expensive to deliver

• Many factors challenge and stress the Canadian health care system. These
factors include
(a) severe shortages of physicians, nurses, and other health care workers in
rural areas,
(b) aging of the "baby boomer" generation. (c) long waiting lists, and the
steadily rising cost of care and new technology, which is the greatest
challenge.

• Supplementary health benefits

often include prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, medical equipment and
appliances (prostheses, wheelchairs, etc.), independent living assistance, and

• In most provinces and territories, support services are provided by both public
and private agencies that are either for-profit or not profit organizations. Every
province and territory has a publicly funded home care program. The
funding for the specific type of care that each client will receive depends on his or
her province’s funding policies. The services offered and how they are provided
vary across the country.

• Home care services are classified into the following:

(a) personal care services,
(b) home support
(c) nursing and professional services,
(d) ancillary support