Question

. Describe the historical and legal foundation of the Canadian health care system. Please explain what each Act listed below is and why an HIM would have to know each Act in their line of work. [B1]

a. BNA

b. Health Act

c. Canada Health and Social Transfer Act

d. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Answer 1

Answer:

In general, Canada's Constitution sets out the powers of the federal and the provincial and territorial governments. Under the Constitution Act, 1867, the provinces were responsible for establishing, maintaining and managing hospitals, asylums, charities and charitable institutions, and the federal government was given jurisdiction over marine hospitals and quarantine. The federal government was also given powers to tax and borrow, and to spend such money as long as this did not infringe on provincial powers. Federal legislation, the Canada Health Act, was passed in 1984. This legislation replaced the federal hospital and medical insurance legislation and consolidated its principles by establishing criteria for portability, accessibility, universality, comprehensiveness and public administration. The organization of Canada's health care system is largely determined by the Canadian Constitution, in which roles and responsibilities are divided between federal, provincial and territorial governments. Provincial and territorial governments have the greatest responsibility for the delivery of health and other social services.

a).  The British North America Act (now the Constitution Act) laid down the allocation of duties and powers for each level of government and the rights of its people by the new union. Sections 91 and 92 of the Act provided for the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. The former gave the federal legislature the power to legislate on "Canada's peace, order and good government," and 29 subjects of exclusive federal authority were listed on "for greater certainty. "The act also granted the federal government the power within two years of its passage to disallow any provincial legislation. The provinces could only levy direct taxes, while the empire could use any form of taxation. Consequently, the act provided for a union in which the federal government had general and overriding powers, while the provinces had limited and restricted powers.

b.) The Canada Health Act (CHA or the Act) is Canada's federal legislation for publicly funded health care insurance. The Act sets out Canada's primary health care policy aim of "protecting, encouraging and improving the physical and mental well-being of Canadian citizens and enabling fair access to health services without financial or other barriers." The CHA sets out requirements and conditions for covered health insurance and expanded health care programs that must be met by the provinces and territories to obtain the full federal cash commitment under the Canada Health Transfer (CHT). The CHA's goal is to ensure that all qualifying citizens of Canada have fair subsidized access to covered health care, with no direct payments at the point of service for those care.

c.) Health and social transfers were either made available as cash grants or cost-shared to promote the implementation of regional social programmes. The Canada Assistance Program (CAP) was implemented in 1966, providing a cost-sharing system for social assistance programmes. Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) was a block transfer payment scheme for health care, post-secondary education and welfare transfers from the Government of Canada to provincial governments, in effect from fiscal year 1996-97 until fiscal year 2004-05.

d.) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out therein subject only to such fair limits as may be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

• (a) freedom of conscience and religion;

• (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

• (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote and to be qualified to be a member of the House of Commons or of the Legislative Assembly. Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.