The Canada Health Act (CHA) sets out criteria and conditions that provincial and territorial health insurance plans have to meet in order to receive the full cash contribution for which they are eligible under the Canada Health Transfer. The CHA requires that “medically necessary” or “medically required” hospital, physician or surgical-dental services be insured by the provincial or territorial plan. As a result, some health services that many Canadians view as essential to maintaining good health – such as prescription drugs and many mental health services – are not required by the CHA to be insured by the provinces and territories. Provinces and territories are free to insure other health care services in addition to the ones prescribed by the CHA. This means that the basket of publicly insured health services varies among Canada's provinces and territories. Over the years, improvements to the CHA have been proposed by health care stakeholders, academics and parliamentarians. This Background Paper describes the CHA, summarizes provincial and territorial compliance issues, and reviews parliamentary action related to the CHA.
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