Health information

Canada has a predominantly public-financed health care system which is privately delivered. Canada's health care system is best described as an interlocking set of ten provincial and two territorial health insurance plans. Known to Canadians as "Medicare", the system provides access to universal and comprehensive coverage for necessary hospital services, as well as in-patient and out-patient physician services. Canada's health care system relies extensively on primary care physicians (e.g. general practitioners), who account for about 51% of all active physicians in Canada. They are usually the initial contact with the formal health care system and control access to most specialists, many allied providers, hospital admissions, diagnostic testings and prescription drug therapy. Private practitioners are generally paid on a fee-for-service basis and submit their service claims directly to the provincial health insurance plan for payment. Over 95% of Canadian hospitals are operated as private non-profit entities which are run by community boards of trustees, voluntary organizations or municipalities.