Canadas health insurance
Canada is well known for its efficient health care system and the government is determined to make health care accessible for its citizens belonging to various classes and income groups.Canada's national health insurance program called "Medicare" is intended to make sure accessibility to basic health services for all residents of the country.Medicare is not devised as a single national program but one which is composed of 13 interlinking provincial and territorial health insurance plans which conform to a basic standard of coverage and have some common characteristics.Medicare was set up on the basis of Canada Health Act (CHA), which was a federal legislation for health insurance plans in the public sector.The act clearly defines the first and foremost aim of the country's 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.
With the intention that every eligible individual should have access to affordable prepaid health care, CHA has put in place certain criteria and conditions which are to be satisfied by the provinces and territories if they are to receive their share of federal contribution under the Canada Health transfer (CHT).
Though there are health care plans and programs sponsored by the respective provincial and territorial governments in most places, most of them are limited to certain facilities and diseases, for instance the following are the services for which full coverage is available in most places 1) Regular visits of a physician, 2) basic ward accommodations in hospitals 3) examination of one eye in every 24 months.The fact that the government health care plans are not enough to provide exclusive health cover to all of its citizens result in leaving many individuals and families devoid of sufficient health cover for services like dental care, vision care, drugs etc.this increases the importance of an efficient supplemental health care system in the country.
Types of health plans available: The health plans are available in Canada under the categories of personal as well as group or small business plans.If you are a self employed individual, or if your employer doesn't provide you with enough coverage, then a personal plan will work better for you.' You will be better served with a supplemental insurance plan for treatments not covered by the health insurance plan of your respective province.For a personal plan, you can receive between 40 Â 80 percent coverage of medical expenses depending on the type of health insurance you choose and amount you pay as the deductible.' The health care services under this coverage include vision care, dental care, extended health, and accidental death or amputation.
Group and small business plans: to ensure the basic well being of their employees which is essential for the progress of any concern, many companies provide their employees with proper group health insurance.This also saves money of the individuals, as the cost of insurance gets reduced per person when a group of individuals is brought under a policy.Such a group healthcare plan may include basic ma\medical care, dental care and life and disability insurance for the policy holders and/or their families.
Enhanced plans: As they offer a bigger range of plans together with providing higher percentage of coverage than the basic health care plans, the enhanced plans are much more beneficial.Many of them also cover extended range of services in dental, vision and accidental healthcare.
Generally, 60 to 90 percent of your health care fees worth coverage are provided, which also depends on the health company you choose and the amount you contribute annually to it.The following is a list of plans that are generally provided by most companies, though there may be variation in certain details among the different companies.
Dental care:
Coverage for fillings, cleanings, scalings, examinations, polishing and certain extractions.
Follow up visits every 6 months.
Coverage for oral surgery, periodontics, root canals, orthodontics, crowns, bridges and dentures.
Coverage intended to be in accordance with your existing provincial Dental Association Fee Guide for General Practitioners.
Vision care:
Coverage for cost of prescription, lenses, frames and laser eye surgery; expenses for the service of the optometrist and coverage against damage causing to the eyeglasses.
Drug coverage: Studies have shown that the average prices of prescription drugs have increase two folds in the last decade, due to which people who don't have a supplemental health insurance find it hard to pay for their drugs.However, people who are aged 65 or older and people who are on social assistance are eligible for full drug coverage when they pay a small deductible.As for the others, partial drug coverage are provided by all provincial governments, which they do after checking the eligibility of the drugs with the list of approved drugs of health Canada and coming to a final conclusion about the drugs that will be covered in their respective province.
Before choosing your health plan: Due to the enormity of options available, to ensure yourself that you are going for the right plan, it is always worth to spare some time to make an in depth comparison between the features provided by different companies like the benefits, the range of coverage and features which apply particularly to you and your family.Some general services that you should look for while selecting your plan are :Hospital services, OP surgery, visits of doctor, coverage for tests, X-rays scan etc, drugs, Home visits, physiotherapy, mental health care, dental care, hospice care, healing therapy, and preventive care.
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