Describe how Canada, Great Britain, and China pay for medical care

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Canada has a universal health care system—a health care system in which all citizens

receive medical services paid for by tax revenues. In Canada, these revenues are

supplemented by insurance premiums paid by all taxpaying citizens. One

major advantage of the Canadian system over that in the United States is a significant

reduction in administrative costs. Canadians are allowed unlimited trips to the doctor,

and doctors can increase their income by ordering extensive tests and repeat visits.

The Canadian health care system does not constitute what is referred to as socialized

medicine—a health care system in which the government owns the medical care

facilities and employs the physicians. Canada has maintained the private nature of the

medical profession. In 1946, Great Britain passed the National Health Service Act,

which provided for all health care services to be available at no charge to the entire

population. The government sets health care policies, raises funds and controls the

medical care budget, owns health care facilities, and directly employs physicians and

other health care personnel. The health care system in Great Britain does constitute

socialized medicine. Physicians receive payments from the government: a fixed annual

fee for each patient in their practice regardless of how many times they see the patient

or how many procedures they perform. They also receive supplemental payments for

each low-income or elderly patient in their practice, to compensate for the extra time

such patients may require. In China, after a lengthy civil war in 1949, the Communist

Party won control of the mainland. Malnutrition was prevalent, life expectancies were

short, and infant and maternal mortality rates were high. With a lack of both financial

resources and trained health care personnel, China needed to adopt innovative

strategies in order to improve the health of its populace. One policy was to develop a

large number of physician extenders and send them into the cities and rural areas to

educate the public regarding health and health care and to treat illness and disease.

Doctors who work in hospitals receive a salary? all other doctors now work on a fee-

for-service basis. The cost of health care generally remains low, but the cost of hospital

care has risen? accordingly, many Chinese, if they can afford it, purchase health care

insurance to cover the cost of hospitalization.