Health Care in Canada

Canada has a federally sponsored, publicly funded Medicare system, with most services provided by the private sector. Each province may opt out, though none currently do. Some provinces still charge premiums to individuals and families. Many employers also offer additional health coverage as a benefit. Canada's system is known as a single payer system, where basic services are provided by private doctors, (since 2002 they have been allowed to incorporate), with the entire fee paid for by the government at the same rate. Most family doctors receive a fee per visit. These rates are negotiated between the provincial governments and the province's medical associations, usually on an annual basis. A physician cannot charge a fee for a service that is higher than the negotiated rate — even to patients who are not covered by the publicly funded system — unless he or she opts out of billing the publicly funded system altogether. Pharmaceutical costs are set at a global median by government price controls. Other areas of health care, such as dentistry and optometry, are wholly private although in some provinces, emergency cases visit to optometrists are partly covered by medicare. In 2005, Canada spent 9.8% of GDP on health care, or US$3,463 per capita. Of that, approximately 70% was government expenditure.