In the previous blog post (you may read the blog here), I talked about the U.S.’s expensive health insurance plan for students and why the public health policy on foreign student health insurance plans is not welcomed by the foreign students. As a Canadian student, I’d like to compare the Canadian provincial healthcare system with the United States health care system from my point of view.
It may not be fair to compare the Canadian provincial healthcare system with the United States health care system since Canada has a universal healthcare plan meanwhile the U.S. does not have one. However, I used to be an international student in Canada, and this allows me to compare UHIP (University Health Insurance Plan) with the U.S. health insurance plan for students. Since both are commercial insurance plans, it will be more representative to make a comparison.
Under UHIP, with 700 dollars insurance premium, you will get the same coverage as the provincial health insurance which covers 100% hospital services, physician’s services and diagnosis & treatment service. UHIP is much better for international students than the U.S. health insurance plans for students in terms of coverage and copay terms.
What causes the differences in healthcare systems between the U.S. and Canada? Professor Mark Pauly from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania believed it is the social value which causes Canadian and American’s different opinion on the health care system (Pauly, 2017). I strongly agree with him. After Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s introduction of Canada’s health insurance system in the 1960s, provincial universal healthcare system became a part of Canadian lives, it became one of Canadians’ ideology. Now it is almost impossible to separate Canadian with public-funded healthcare. However, the U.S. does not have public-funded healthcare in history and the introduction of the universal healthcare system will cost taxpayers billions of dollars. These made is it difficult to launch a universal healthcare system in the states.
What’s your opinion on the necessity of the universal healthcare system in a country? Just share your thought below!
References
Allied healthcare. (2018). US vs Canadian Healthcare: What Are the Differences? Retrieved from https://www.aimseducation.edu/blog/us-vs-canadian-healthcare-differences/
Pauly, M. (2017). Is Canada the Right Model for a Better U.S. Health Care System? Retrieved from https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/lessons-can-u-s-learn-canadian-health-care-system/
Bojian 