The Canadian Health Care System

Today in Canada, healthcare is a word that has almost become a synonym amongst the population for political inefficiency. And who could blame them, with the waiting lists, and the insufficient medical coverage? But does anyone really know the rules and regulations they are relying on to save their lives? Do people really even care until they or a family member are dying because the waiting list became a race against time they lost and had to pay for instead with their lives? So many problems, and no one seems to have the answers. Or if a select few do know the facts they aren’t doing enough to inform the public because health care is and remains one of the most misinformed topics in the political system.

I’m not saying I have all the answers but I do know that the Canadian Governments, statement about health care makes me nothing but nervous. “ The basics, however, remain the same - universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay.” This statement if of concern simply because of their usage of the word need, without defining what they are promising.

Dictionary Definition:

need [ned]

verb [trans.]

1. require (something) because it is essential or very important

Canadian Government’s definition:

need [ned]

noun

1. a medically relevant situation that that needs to be acted upon immediately.

But what about the medical situations that aren’t urgent? The cases where a lack of medical treatment can negatively impact a persons life in the long run? Are their needs not as important because because their condition is not as critical?

For example, a recent study in England showed that one in every 10,000 babies is effected by anopthalmia, a rare disease that results in infants being born without their eyes. You may be asking, what the problem is, since visually impaired people need relatively little medical treatment and are still capable of living a normal life. But the difference is that the children effected by this disease are still growing and developing and need glass eyeballs in order for their sockets and face to develop normally.

And yes, you guessed it, this disease, is shockingly not covered by the Canadian Health care system, since glass eyeballs are simply too expensive despite the fact that it is a necessity for the people effected by anopthalmia.

The fact is though that, "everyone as a person has the same rights as any other person," as is stated in the Deontological Principal of Equality and Justice. These people have the same right to a normal life as any of us, and they should not be deprived of that right simply because of the limited defenitions of one word. Need.

Learn more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584062,00.html#ixzz1d5EMNnor

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/index-eng.php