The Boundaries of MedicareThe Boundaries of Medicare

"This book is about publicly funded health care systems in Canada, but rather than focusing on the services provided under the Canada Health Act, its focus is on the spaces that the CHA does not occupy. For most Canadians, health care is provided by the province or territory where they live; this array of health care systems across the country (supported by federal spending transfers) comprise what we call the Canadian health care 'system.' But not all publicly funded health care is provided under the CHA. Health care services outside its umbrella include those for workers' compensation, military personnel and veterans, incarcerated persons, migrants, and certain programs for Indigenous peoples. The details of these systems, and how they work alongside and intertwined with the CHA, are not well understood---including by those who provide them. This can lead to certain vulnerable populations (refugees, migrant workers, prisoners, Indigenous peoples), being deprived of health care to which they are entitled, and to confusion at the policy and delivery level about the relationship of these services with provincial and territorial systems. This book aims to improve understanding of how these non-CHA health care programs work. Why were they established? Who is eligible for what, and under which conditions? How are services provided, and how are they paid for? Dedicating a chapter to each of these services and population, the authors explain the logic and operation of each program, identify the internal tensions of the program, and outline the political challenges it faces. The closing chapter turns to a different but related subject: the provision of virtual health care services, which increased dramatically during the pandemic and yet are not clearly articulated within the CHA and other parallel/related health programs."--