What are the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act?

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What are the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act?

April 16, 2024 2050 Views

Forty years ago, on April 17, 1984, the Canada Health Act was passed unanimously into law, guaranteeing every Canadian access to health care, regardless of income.

The Act was a federal intervention, led by then Health Minister Monique Bégin, to protect citizens from extra-billing and user fees.

Today, 6.5 million Canadians don’t have doctors. Public health care, Canada’s most beloved program, is again under serious threat from the rapid growth of private for-profit care.

The Canada Health Act set 5 principles that provinces and territories have to follow to receive federal funding for health care. These principles are universality, portability, public administration, comprehensiveness and accessibility.

Join the Canadian Health Coalition’s Anne Lagacé Dowson in conversation with thinkers of each of the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act in a webinar series starting at 7:00 PM EST on the dates below.

Webinar Dates

April 30 at 7:00 PM EST
Universality with Colleen Fuller, health policy researcher and writer

May 7 at 7:00 PM EST
Portability with Antonia Maioni, Political Science and Public Policy, McGill University

May 28 at 7:00 PM EST
Comprehensiveness with Katherine Fierlbeck, Chair, Political Science, Dalhousie University, and co-author of The Boundaries of Medicare

June 4 at 7:00 PM EST
Public Administration with Greg Marchildon, Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design and Professor at the Institute of Health, Policy and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, co-author of The Boundaries of Medicare, and former director of the Romanow Commission

June 11 at 7:00 PM EST
Accessibility with Colleen Flood, Dean of Law, Queen’s University, and Jane Philpott, Dean of Health Sciences and Director of the School of Medicine, Queen’s University

The webinar series will set the stage for the Canada Health Act at 40 Research Roundtable, co-hosted by the Canadian Health Coalition and the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, happening on June 20 at the University of Ottawa. Register for the Research Roundtable here.

For more information, contact Tracy at tglynn@healthcoalition.ca

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Tracy Glynn is the National Director of Projects and Operations for the Canadian Health Coalition