Vermont Access Network (VAN): Antonia Maioni: the Canadian Health Care System

Description

Dr. Antonia Maioni, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for the Study of Canada at McGill University, spoke about the Canadian health care system to students and the public at Lyndon State College Thursday, October 20, 2011. She showed that Canadian health care costs less and, for many measures, has as good or better outcomes than health care in the United States. She described how Canada came to develop its system, and why the United States has rejected efforts to gain for Americans what all the other industrialized countries have for their citizens: health care security for all their citizens, and no bankruptcies to pay for medical care. She notes the system is publicly funded, but privately delivered, primarily with fee-for-service reimbursement for providers. She notes that costs have risen to where they are now thinking about alternative reimbursement models, but their expenditures on health care are still far below what we spend per capita, adjusted for cost of living, and are still far below what we spend as a percentage of gross domestic product.