A powerful argument for a new health-care system.

Heated debate surrounds the topic of health care in both the US and in Canada. In each country, these debates are based in some measure on perceptions about health care in their neighboring country. The perceptions held by Canadians about the US health care system, or those held by Americans about Canada, end up having significant impact on health policy makers in both countries. Health Care Policy and Opinion in the United States and Canada examines these perceptions and their effects using an extensive cross-national survey made up of two public opinion polls of over 3,500 respondents from the US and Canada. The book first develops a rigorous and detailed explanation of the factors that contribute to levels of satisfaction among Americans and Canadians with respect to their health care systems. It then attempts to study the perceptions of Canadians vis-à-vis the US health care system as well as the perception of Americans toward Canada’s health care system. The authors examine how these perceptions impact health policy makers, and show how the survey results indicate remarkable similarities in the opinions expressed by Americans and Canadians toward the problems in the health care system, heralding perhaps a measure of convergence in the future. The authors present how perceptions on health care indicate elements of convergence or divergence between the views of Canadians and Americans, and discuss how these citizen opinions should inform health care policy change in both countries in the near future. This book should generate interest in scholars of health care, public opinion, and comparative studies of social policies and public opinion.

This book provides insight into how the Canadian health care system is financed and organized, how it has evolved over time, and how well it performs relative to peer countries.

While Canadians are proud of their healthcare system, the reality is that it is fragmented and disorganized. Instead of a pan-Canadian system, it is a "system of systems" - thirteen provincial and territorial systems and a federal system. As a result, Canadian healthcare has not only become one of the costliest in the world, but is falling well behind many developed countries in terms of quality. Canadians increasingly realize that their healthcare system is no longer fiscally sustainable, yet change remains elusive. The standard claim is that Canada's multijurisdictional approach makes system-wide reform nearly impossible. Toward a Healthcare Strategy for Canadians disputes this reasoning, making the case for a comprehensive, system-wide, made-in-Canada healthcare strategy. It looks at the mechanics of change and suggests ways in which the various participants in the system - governments, healthcare professionals, the private sector, and patients - can work collaboratively to transform a second-rate system. Addressing critical issues of health human resources, electronic health records, integrated care, and pharmacare, Toward a Healthcare Strategy for Canadians shows how a system-wide strategic approach to this crucial policy area can make a difference in Canada’s healthcare system in the future.

Canada has been among the world leaders in recognizing the multiple factors that impact health. Focusing on Canada’s health care system, Raisa B. Deber provides brief descriptions of some key facts and concepts necessary to understand health care policy in Canada and place it in an international context. An accessible guide, Treating Health Care unpacks key concepts to provide informed discussions that help us understand and diagnose Canada’s health care system and to clarify which proposed changes are likely to improve it - and which are not. This book provides background information to clarify such concepts as: determinants of health; how health systems are organized and financed (including international comparisons); health economics; health ethics; and roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, including government, providers, and patients. It then addresses some key issues, including equity, efficiency, access and wait times, quality improvement and patient safety, and coverage and payment models. Using analysis rather than advocacy, Deber provides a toolkit to help understand health care and health policy.

Canada's state-funded health care system is in trouble, and fundamental questions are being raised about the connection between medicine and the public sector. This collection of historical essays explores diverse aspects of medical care and ideology in their relation to the Canadian state and to parallel institutions such as the military.