The United States Looks at Canadian Health Care

Abstract

As the United States looks at ways to control medical expenditures\nand expand access to care, attention has turned to Canada's approach to\nfinancing and delivering health care. This Health Policy Report discusses\nseveral aspects of the growing U.S. interest in the Canadian system where care\nis financed by the government through general tax revenues, is accessible to\nall, and is provided largely by private, fee-for-service physicians. Iglehart\nfirst outlines recent trends in health care expenditures among 24 Western\nnations, with the United States, then Canada, spending the most per capita. \nHe then describes U.S. initiatives in studying the strengths and weaknesses of\nthe Canadian system on the part of health policy makers, politicians,\nproviders and purchasers of care, and health services researchers. Iglehart\nconcludes with an account of organized medicine's reaction to this interest in\nthe Canadian approach to medical care. (KIE abstract)