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Since 1962, Canada has had a government-funded, national healthcare system founded on the five basic principles of the Canada Health Act. The principles are to provide a healthcare system that is: universally available to permanent residents; comprehensive in the services it covers; accessible without income barriers; portable within and outside the country; and publicly administered.
Under this system, Canada's provinces and territories are responsible for administering their own healthcare plans, and must provide residents with prepaid coverage for all medically necessary hospital and physician services.
Provincial and territorial responsibilities therefore include planning, financing, and providing hospital care, medical care, public health, and some facets of dispensing prescriptions. Coverage for services such as dental care, prescription drugs, optometric services, hearing aids, and home care, varies by province or territory. For example, the province of Ontario has instituted its own prescription drug plans, The Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program and the Trillium Drug Program, in order to help seniors and others with the high costs of prescription drugs. These differ from British Columbia's Fair Pharmacare Program, and from Alberta's prescription drug plans, which are offered in conjunction with Blue Cross, a private insurer.
It should be pointed out that the Canada Health Act's principle of "portability" applies primarily between provinces. Although the Act entitles Canadians to "receive necessary services in relation to an emergency when the absence is temporary, such as on business or vacation", reimbursement for treatment in a foreign country is partial. Because of the high costs of medical care in some countries (e.g. the United States), most Canadians purchase travel insurance when travelling abroad. I have family in Canada and know they have had coverage for years. I do not like LePAGE-I WOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM- HIS WHOLE DEMEANOR TURNS ME OFF! I CAN TELL YOU THAT FOOLS LIKE HIM ARE THE REASON WE ARE PAYING OUTLANDISH FEES FOR OUR HEALTHCARE INSURANCE! I CAN TELL YOU CANADIANS PAY A HECK OF ALOT LESS (OR TAXED) FOR THEIR HEALTHCARE! AND IT DOESN'T TAKE ANY LONGER TO GET AN OPERATION IN ST JOHN N.B. THAN IT DOES IN MAINE MED! AND THEY RATE HIGHER ON THE WORLD SCALE THAN WE DO JUST CHECK IT OUT ON THE WEB!
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