US vs Canada HCS 400 systems and policys

1. US VS CANADA 2014
1
Paige Catizone
HCS 400 Healthcare Systems and Policies
“US VS Canada”

2. US VS CANADA 2014
2
Two main goals of the PPACA were availability and cost control. Obama’s
hoped the implementation of this bill would cut spending from $2.7 trillion to $1.1 trillion.
A refocus on how we approach health issues would help to control wasteful spending.
The shift from treatment to prevention was introduced. Treatments and services are to
benefit the community as a whole not just for individuals, much like the traditional public
health system. An overhaul such as this deeply involves all stakeholders in order to
function as a unit. The Affordable Care Act is the new health care reform law in America
and is often referred as Obamacare.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are made up of the Affordable
Health Care for America Act, the Patient Protection Act, and the health care related
sections of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act and the Student Aid and
Fiscal Responsibility Act. Included in the act are amendments to other laws such as the
Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and the Health and Public Services Act. Since the ACA
signed into law, additional rules and regulations have expanded upon the law, and we
have attempted to update our summaries with those changes.
This is a good accomplishment so far, within rate of uninsured Americans under
65 falling from 20 percent to 15 percent. If people obtained insurance, 60 percent of
them were able to see a physician or get a prescription filled. Of those who became
insured under private ACA plans, 59 percent were previously uninsured, while 66
percent of those who became insured under Medicaid had been previously uninsured.
However, the uninsured rate is still 18 percent for people between 19 and 34.

3. US VS CANADA 2014
3
The ACA is being compared to Canadian Healthcare system; one thing
Americans and Canadians can agree on is that we don’t want each other’s health care
systems. In truth, most Americans don’t know how Canada’s system works and
Canadians don’t know much about the U.S. system. The differences between the both
are:
1. No single payer, Canada-Competitive practices such as advertising are kept
to a minimum, maximizing the percentage of revenues that go directly
towards care. In general, costs are paid through funding from income taxes,
the only province to impose a fixed monthly premium which is waived or
reduced for those on low incomes. There are no deductibles on basic health
care and co-pays are extremely low or non-existent. US-Medicare is the
United States is a single-payer healthcare system, but is restricted to only
senior citizens over the age of 65, people under 65 who have specific
disabilities, and anyone with end stage renal disease government is
increasingly involved in US healthcare spending, paying about 45% of the
$2.2 trillion the nation spent on individuals' medical care in 2004.
2. No universal coverage, Health care in Canada-All insured persons must be
covered for insured health services. This definition of insured individuals
excludes those who may be covered by other federal or provincial legislation,
such as serving members of the Canadian Forces or Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, inmates of federal penitentiaries, and people covered by
provincial workers' compensation. US-The United States does not have a

4. US VS CANADA 2014
4
universal health care system, however the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act (PPACA) as amended by the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010, seeks to have expanded insurance coverage to
legal residents by 2014.
3. No equal access, Canada-Common complaints relate to access, usually to
elective surgery (especially hip and knee replacement and cataract surgery)
and diagnostic imaging. These have been the primary targets of health care
reinvestment, and it appears that considerable progress has been made for
certain services, although the implications for procedures not on the target list
are unclear. US-Access to health insurance is very limited for immigrants
living in the U.S. both undocumented immigrants and permanent residents.
4. No Cost containment, Canada-Canada's relative success in containing costs
is the result of public financing of the health insurance system. Our single
payer, publicly financed health care system, allows for cost containment and
universal access based on need for services rather than ability to pay. US-
U.S. health spending reached an estimated 2.7 trillion dollars in 2010 and the
health share of the gross domestic product is projected to increase from 17.6
percent in 2009 to 19.8 percent by 2020. This creates the challenge of how
health care spending while continuing to enjoy the improvements in quality
and quantity of life that result from innovation in medical care.

5. US VS CANADA 2014
5
5. No “national” health insurance, one of the main parts in Canada is that
although each province and territory administers a health plan, everyone can
expect to be covered for a comprehensive range of services, no matter where
they live. The federal government is expected to chip in to make it happen.
The Supreme Court decision for the federal government’s obligation for the
states will expand their medical coverage. US-Medical costs would be offset
in part by replacing insurance premiums with taxes. Hundreds of billions of
dollars of immediate savings would be realized from the elimination of
insurance company overhead and hospital billing costs, but offsetting
immediate expenses would include training and paying for the much larger
number of general practitioners and other physicians necessary to provide
coverage to several million formerly uninsured.

6. US VS CANADA 2014
6
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_health_care_syst
ems_in_Canada_and_the_United_States
http://www.nber.org/bah/fall07/w13429.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/obamacare-vs-
canada-five-key-differences/article14657740/