Recently, the Sun newspaper chain published a three-part series by Lorne Gunter, which described some of the major shortcomings of Canada’s healthcare system and examined possible strategies for policy reform.
Policy discourse surrounding healthcare in Canada often centers on stale comparisons to the clearly flawed American model, which is characterized by extremely high costs and the absence of universal insurance coverage. Gunter rightly argues that Canada should look to other models around the world, such as that found in the Netherlands, to find policy models that ensure universal access while avoiding the lengthy wait times for care that exist far too often in Canada.
Frontier Centre research features prominently in Gunter’s series. For several years, the Frontier Centre has participated in the publication of international indices that compare healthcare performance in Canada to a number of European countries. Our research has repeatedly shown that top performers, like the Netherlands, employ healthcare models that feature more consumer choice, and extensive competition between service providers and insurers. The most recent version of the Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index is available here.
