Canada has a single payer system but the provinces have the bulk of the responsibility of running the health care system for their own residents. In order to qualify for federal funding, each province must meet the following criteria.
- 1. Universality. Available to all provincial residents on uniform terms and conditions;
- 2. Comprehensiveness. Covering all medically necessary hospital and physician services;
- 3. Portability. Allowing residents to remain covered when moving from province to province;
- 4. Accessibility. Having no financial barriers to access such as deductibles or copayments; and
- 4. Public administration. Administered by a nonprofit authority accountable to the provincial government.
Funding is provided jointly by the federal and state governments. The federal government uses funds from general revenue to provide a block grant to each of the provinces. The block grant finances only about 16% of each province’s health care expenditures. The remainder is funded by provincial taxes: mostly personal and corporate income tax. Health care spending makes up between one-third to one-half of provincial social welfare spending. For the nation as a whole, health care costs only 9% of GDP.
