In the early 1900’s the lack of a good healthcare system was beneficial to the wealthy because they would have the money to pay for themselves, while the poor suffered because they did not have enough money to pay for themselves.”Canadians should not forget that Medicare was born out of the misery of the Great Depression. Concern about the future of healthcare was the inspiration for this book about the days before it existed” 2.
In 1947, Tommy Douglas created a brilliant system in Saskatchewan, the first ever public hospital insurance plan. This new system would finally make hospitals more affordable for those who need help but do not have enough money to pay upfront to the hospitals. And this new hospital insurance plan would become a huge success which would eventually lead to the universal Medicare care system Canada has today. However, ”It was a difficult birth. The North American medical establishment and the entire insurance industry were determined to stop Medicare in its tracks.” 3.
In 1957, the federal government of Canada copied Douglas’ idea and passed the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act which had made public hospital insurance plans available to everyone in Canada. Along with this act the government had offered to cover half of all certain hospital and diagnostic …show more content…
Along with this the Canadian government would cover half the costs of medical services given by a doctor outside of a hospital. In 1968, 6 years after Saskatchewan created the universal health insurance plan, The Medical Care Act was passed and every province and territory in Canada had Medicare. The principles set out by this act were, coverage of all necessary hospital and physician services, the availability of this coverage to all insured citizens, the ability for citizens to use this coverage across the country, that citizens will be able to have access to this medicare regardless of their ability to pay, and that there is a single payer for the services, the government.
After the Canadian government copied Tommy Douglas’ health insurance plan, Canada’s Medicare continued to evolve. In 1984, the Canada Health Act was passed by Trudeau Liberals in parliament. ”The Act sets out the primary objective of Canadian health care policy, which is "to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers."” 4. ”The
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