Frequently asked questions about health care in Canada...
Q: How much does it cost to get health care in Canada?
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are Canadians so proud of their health care system?
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why is Canada the fifth-highest health care spender among the 31 countries assessed by the OECD? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada have a below-average number of doctors? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada have a below-average number of nurses? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada have a below-average number of acute care hospital beds? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada have a below-average number of CT scanners? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada have a below-average number of MRIs? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada rank in last place for patient rights when compared with 31 European countries? (2)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada rank in last place for waiting times when compared with 31 European countries? (2)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada rank in last place for availability of pharmaceuticals when compared with 31 European countries? (2)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada rank in last place on the Bang-for-the-Buck index when compared with 31 European countries? (2)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do Canadian hospitals have fixed budgets set by the government instead of being paid for services provided? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why is there no alternative health care available in Canada for patients on long waiting lists? (1)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do 49% of Canadian doctors rate access to advanced diagnostic services as fair to poor? (5)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do 49% of Canadian family doctors rate patient access to psychiatrists as fair to poor? (5)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are five million Canadians without a family doctor? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did Canadian health officials have a "doctor lottery" to raffle off 1,500 vacancies to 8,000 patients looking for a family doctor? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada rank dead last among G8 countries when it comes to physician supply? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada's doctor-patient ratio rank 24th out of 28 OECD countries? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do 1 in 9 Canadian-educated doctors practice in the United States? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did 4,000 Canadian doctors move to the US between 1993 and 2004? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why is the current doctor shortage in Canada equal to the number of doctors who have left Canada? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did the Canadian government ever believe there was a doctor surplus in Canada? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the Canadian government regard doctors as independent cost centers? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why has the Canadian government tried to reduce health care costs by reducing the number of doctors? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why has the Canadian government tried to reduce health care costs by reducing medical school class sizes? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are many outstanding candidates turned down by Canadian medical schools? (7)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are 1,500 Canadian medical students studying abroad? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the demand for medical training in Canada far outstrip supply? (7)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did the Canadian government increased the ratio of specialist to family doctor training positions? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does Canada need at least 5,000 more doctors in active practice? (6)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do some estimates place the Canadian doctor shortage at 15,000? (3)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the shortage of doctors in Canada exist across all geographic regions? (6)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the shortage of doctors in Canada exist across all disciplines, including family doctors, anesthetists, geriatricians and cancer care specialists? (6)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why has the Canadian government restricted the entry of foreign medical graduates? (8)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the average Canadian medical student graduate with a debt load of $158,000? (4)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Of Canadian seniors who go bankrupt, why do 15% cite medical reasons? (9)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: If health care costs are the reason so many Americans go bankrupt, why is the rate of personal bankruptcy higher in Canada?(9)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why will computer networking of personal health information make it easier to ration health care in Canada? (10)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do many people regard rationing as one of the strengths of the Canadian health care system? (11)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the Canadian government limit everything from the number of medical school graduates to the number of surgical procedures performed? (11)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does health care rationing in Canada lead to waits and shortages? (11)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did the unfunded liability of Canada’s health care system reach 364 billion dollars in 2004? (12)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does it only take a week for a dog to get a hip replacement in Canada but some humans wait for two to three years? (13)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why has the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the Quebec government ban on private health insurance is unconstitutional? (13)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the Canadian government routinely delay the approval of more than half of the new drugs launched in the US? (14)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are doctor's salaries in Canada negotiated, set and paid for by the government? (14)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the average Canadian doctor earn only 42% as much as that of a doctor in the US? (14)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why is screening for breast cancer on the decline in Canada? (15)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do patients in Canada wait on average more than two months for an MRI scan? (16)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do patients in Canada wait an average of one month for a CT scan? (16)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are waiting times commonly used to restrict access to health care in Canada? (16)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why did the Canadian government prepare for the 2009 flu season by sending body bags to Indian reserves? (17)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why is a Canadian considered too old for hip resurfacing at age 57? (18)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are Canadians not allowed to pay for health care services that the government otherwise refuses to provide? (18)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why do Canadians have to go to court to win the right to pay for health care that the government refuses to provide? (18)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why does the government in Canada cut health care staff, raise fees and reduce services in order to save money? (19)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are thousands of elective surgeries being cut during the 2010 Olympics in Canada? (19)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: How are waiting times used to ration health care in Canada? (20)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why are some Canadians more equal than others, when it comes to health care waiting lists? (like professional athletes and their families) (21)
A: Health care in Canada is free!
Q: Why don't Canadians realize that health care delayed is health care denied?
A: Health care in Canada is free!
References:
(1) Our health system is broken, but few care (link checked 2009-11-06)
Ottawa Citizen, August 2, 2009
That article refers to this subscription site: OECD Health Data 2009 – comparing health statistics across OECD countries (link checked 2009-11-06)
The OECD has 30 member countries, including Canada and the USA.
(2) Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index 2009 (link checked 2009-11-06)
Frontier Centre for Public Policy 2009-05-25
(3) Curing Canada's doctor shortage (link checked 2009-11-06)
National Post January 15, 2008
(4) Canada's Doctor Shortage Worsening (link checked 2009-11-06)
Maclean's February 12, 2008
(5) Doctors call for plan to curb physician shortage (link checked 2009-11-06)
Canadian Medical Association Journal January 14, 2008
(6) Managing physician shortages: We are not doing enough (link checked 2009-11-06)
Canadian Medical Association Journal April 10, 2007
(7) Estimated 1500 Canadians studying medicine abroad (link checked 2009-11-06)
Canadian Medical Association Journal April 10, 2007
(8) The Canadian contribution to the US physician workforce (link checked 2009-11-06)
Canadian Medical Association Journal April 10, 2007
(9) Health Insurance and Bankruptcy Rates in Canada and the United States (link checked 2009-11-06)
Fraser Institute July 2009
(10) The Networking of Health information Handbook for the management of ethical and social questions - Chapter 11 - Human and Social Vulnerability (link checked 2009-11-06)
Government of Canada 2004-10-01
(11) We could learn a few things from the U.S.
The Globe and Mail Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009
(12) Medicare’s unfunded liabilities (link checked 2009-11-06)
The Fraser Institute 06/09
(13) Canada’s Private Clinics Surge as Public System Falters (link checked 2009-11-06)
The New York Times February 26, 2008,
(14) The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care (link checked 2009-11-06)
Pacific Research Institute October 2008
(15) Rejecting the Canadian way (link checked 2009-11-06)
Real Clear Politics May 19, 2006
(16) How Good Is Canadian Health Care? 2007 Report (link checked 2009-11-06)
Fraser Institute November 5, 2007
(17) Body bags disrupt Canada's flu-readiness message (link checked 2009-11-06)
Reuters Canada Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:41pm EDT
(18) 'Too Old' for Hip Surgery (link checked 2009-11-06)
The Wall Street Journal FEBRUARY 9, 2009
(19) Elective surgeries to be cut by 35 per cent during Olympics (link checked 2009-11-06)
Vancouver Sun, July 15, 2009
(20) Wait Time Tables — A Comparison by Province, 2008 (link checked 2009-11-06)
Canadian Institute for Health Information - February 2008
(21) Perkins: No surprise as pro athletes jump swine line (link checked 2009-11-06)
Toronto Star - Published On Thu Nov 05 2009
