Modernization of the Canada Health Act

The Canada Health Act (CHA) is a Federal health care initiative with intentions to provide universal health coverage for all Canadians. Based on my experience as a registered social worker, I have witnessed how the CHA lacks accountability towards the patients I provided care for in an inpatient mental health setting. The exclusion of access to prescription coverage, dental benefits, and mental health and addiction supports in the CHA have deleterious consequences toward recovery. Through the modernization of the CHA to include these additional supports, Canadians can experience fewer barriers to achieving complete health and wellness within its totality from a biopsychosocial approach and achieve the equality to which the Canadian Charter or Rights and Freedoms encourages.

A significant amount of my patient population experiences financial hardships, and this places them at an increased risk of negative health outcomes, “particularly those at the lower end of the income spectrum—are suffering major health incidents, and in some cases losing their lives due to arbitrary gaps in coverage.” (Flood & Thomas, 2016, p. 402). In my experience, when patients lack access to prescription coverage they are unable to take their medications and their health conditions deteriorate. At times, they are required to reallocate funds from their limited source of income toward prescription costs; subsequently, impacting quality of life for themselves and those around them. As per Flood and Thomas (2016), lack of prescription coverage may also affect low income citizens' desire to seek medical attention; due to the fear of incurring a prescription cost related to same. This may result in increased hospital admissions costing the health care system more financially. Additionally, in my area of practice, with lack of access to dental coverage, comorbidities may present for patients such as infections, increased pain, and poor oral hygiene. Not only do these comorbidities result in the inability maintain proper nutrition, they impact quality of life. The lack of access to dental coverage described may also increase hospital admissions, and visits to health care providers, yet again impacting overall costs toward our health care system. These two potential cost saving measures would not only add efficiency to provision of a universal health care system, it would also increase quality of life for Canadians.

Moreover, accountability is an absolute necessity with regard to the CHA’s success (Flood & Thomas, 2016). When Physicians are, “remunerated on a fee-for-service basis and have no incentive to consider the financial implications of the drugs they prescribe.” (Flood & Thomas, 2016, p. 403) this decreases motivation to address financial implications in addition to the social determinants of health. As a registered social worker, some of the referrals I receive are when the social environment in which the patient exists is overlooked and accountability to address the social determinants of health may have been ignored. Consequently, I am required to advocate, remove barriers, and problem solve to cover up the faults of the CHA which are further exposed when health professionals absolve their responsibility towards a Canadian’s right to accessing equitable healthcare.

From my experience the modernization of the CHA may occur with the inclusion of dental benefits, prescription coverage, and mental health and addiction supports; in addition to when the health professions involved are able to prioritize the importance of the social determinants of health towards recovery.

Flood, C. M., & Thomas, B. (2016). Modernization of the Canadian Health Act. Dalhousie Law

Journal, 39(2), 397–411.