Canada Health Act
Canada Health Act (pronunciation: /ˈkænədə hɛlθ ækt/) is a piece of federal legislation in Canada that sets standards for the country's publicly funded health care insurance system, known as Medicare. The Act was passed in 1984 and is administered by Health Canada, a department of the federal government.
Etymology
The term "Canada Health Act" is derived from the country of its origin, Canada, and its purpose, which is to regulate health care. The Act is often referred to by its acronym, CHA.
Overview
The Canada Health Act sets out the primary objective of Canadian health care policy, which is "to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers." The Act establishes criteria and conditions related to insured health services and extended health care services that the provinces and territories must fulfill to receive the full federal cash contribution under the Canada Health Transfer.
Key Provisions
The Act includes five main principles: Public Administration, Comprehensiveness, Universality, Portability, and Accessibility. These principles are meant to ensure that all eligible residents of Canada have reasonable access to insured health services on a prepaid basis, without direct charges at the point of service.
Related Terms
- Public Administration: This principle requires that the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must be administered and operated on a non-profit basis by a public authority.
- Comprehensiveness: This principle requires that the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must cover all insured health services provided by hospitals, medical practitioners or dentists.
- Universality: This principle requires that the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must cover 100% of the insured persons.
- Portability: This principle requires that the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must cover insured persons when they move to another province or territory within Canada.
- Accessibility: This principle requires that the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must provide reasonable access to health services to all insured persons.
See Also
This WikiMD.org article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.