Does the Canadian Health Care System Cover Those Visiting Canada?

The Canadian Health Care System is based onservices during your stay in the Canadian
several socialized health insurance plans providingterritory.
full coverage to Canadian citizens and a model toCanada counts with about 30,000 primary care
follow that the American Health Care System hasdoctors, who account for over half of all Canadian
been analyzing for a while.doctors so you will not have a problem finding a
In Canada, federal government set the guidelinesphysician that can provide you with preventative
that apply to the different provinces andcare or basic medical treatment.
territories of the country in health matters, butSpecialist doctors account for 28,000 all over the
the system comes from public funding on acountry and there are countless private clinics
territorial or provincial basis.operating in the country offering specialized
Because every Canadian region manages its ownmedical services, although under federal law they
health care system, there is too muchshould not provide those services covered by the
controversy and debate in relation to health careCanada Health Act.
coverage for both locals and people visiting theEven though, most clinics offer such services
country.regardless the legal limitation, they are covered by
People who want to access the Canadian Healthprivate insurance policies to provide health
Care system must apply for a provincial healthassistance to people that otherwise would be left
card and wait for no longer, than three months towithout medical protection.
obtain their health card in the case of newPrivate insurance in Canada may cover up to
immigrants.80% of medical cost and it is available to visitors
While the Canada Health Act guarantees that alland local residents unsatisfied with their provincial
residents of a territory or province will beor territorial health system.
accepted for health coverage, temporary visitorsIn terms of medical availability as of 2007, there
can only access this system purchasing insuranceis one primary care doctor for every 1000
by themselves.Canadians, who spend nearly $3,300 per capita on
However, there are also Public Health Carehealth care attention every year.
Providers that ruled under the same act, providingKeep in mind that the Canadian Health Care
services such as hospitals, dental surgery,System does not provide basic services to
ambulatory services, primary care doctors, andresidents, and some of them are those that
specialists to cover provincial insurance policies.visitors usually require, such as optometrists,
As a visitor to Canada, you can purchase a healthdental services, and prescription medication, which
insurance policy and benefit from these publicpeople have to pay.