What is Universal Health Care ?

To me, universal health care means that every Canadian can access basic health care services, excluding cosmetic Dental and Optometry services. Universal Health Care is funded through the federal government and taxation. The Federal government's role is to set and administer national principles for the system and financial support to the provinces and territories (Canada's Health Care System - Canada.Ca, n...). The Federal Government is also tasked with ensuring all groups have access to health care. The groups are First Nations people living on reserves, Inuit, serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, eligible veterans; inmates in federal penitentiaries; and some groups of refugee claimants.

The provinces and territories each have a health insurance plan that provides medically necessary hospital and doctor services at no cost to the consumer at the point of service. To keep the Federal Funding, each Province and Territory must meet the criteria laid out by the Canada Health Act. There are Five Canada Health Act Principles: Public Administration, Comprehensiveness, Universality, Accessibility, and Portability(Canada's Health Care System - Canada.Ca, n.d.). The Ministry of Health is responsible for ensuring residents receive health care in a timely fashion. In British Columbia, we have the Medical Service Plan that pays for medically required services of physicians and surgeons and dental or oral surgery performed in the hospital. Prior to Jan 1, 2020, residents of British Columbia used to have to pay MSP Premiums; enrollment in MSP is mandatory for all eligible British Columbians. Some employers would cover the cost of your MSP, and individuals earning below $26,000 did not have to pay MSP Premiums.

We are fortunate in Canada to have basic universal healthcare and to have it paid for through taxation and federal funding; however, there are some significant gaps in the coverage provided. The biggest gap I have identified is that routine basic dental cleanings and maintenance are not covered; however, Emergency Dental services are covered. I believe we see some Canadians neglect their oral hygiene due to affordability, and then once pain becomes intolerable, they present to the emergency departments. At this point, emergency oral surgery is performed. This can be the removal of a tooth. However, replacing the tooth is considered an elective or cosmetic surgery not covered under MSP. In my opinion, having your teeth is not elective. Removal of your teeth can create stigmatism, can create barriers to employment, decreased nutritional intake, and an overall decline in one's self-worth. This issue has been on my mind over the last few weeks. One of my clients was experiencing significant tooth pain and presented to ED many times over the weeks, he was provided pain medication and referred to a dentist. My client declined the dentist due to financial burden. The peridontel infection spread and he suffered a stroke secondary to the infection. At this point the client is now fully reliant on our health care system. There will be a full quality review but the situation exposes the gap and need for affordable dental coverage.

The Federal Government has launched the Canada Dental Benefit, a program initiated to reduce the cost of dental care for children such as the Canadian Dental Benefit (Canada Dental Benefit - Canada.Ca, n.d.) This is a great start, but it still does not address the issue of routine dental hygiene and prevention for adults or seniors. With the cost of seeing a dentist not included in our Medical Service Plan, maintenance care is often unattainable for families without private group benefits. Access to better dental care would be preventative and a proactive approach to health. This opens up a larger conversation about whether the government is responsible for prevention and health promotion or is the onus of the individual. Where do we open the lines? We could go on to discuss the addition of prescription medications to MSP, and insulin for diabetics. I hope to see an increase in coverage for the conditions listed above and many more, but I do not have the solution as to how our system can endure the burden of cost.