Health is the most important thing in our lives; therefore, healthcare is as important as it gets, no matter where you live.
However, some countries do healthcare better than others. Even though some countries are extremely rich, they still cannot provide good health care to their citizens.
Canada and the US are two different examples that showcase a good and complex healthcare system.
When we look at Canada vs. the US healthcare statistics, we see these differences better as the statistics showcase everything from healthcare finances to the quality of the hospitals.
It is important to know that good and working healthcare is not just about quality hospitals but also how much it costs and how good all of the country’s citizens can benefit from it.
A Quick Look At Canada Healthcare System
Canadian healthcare is both similar and different from US healthcare in many aspects.
Probably the biggest difference Canada has over the US healthcare system is that the national government funds most of the health-related expenses, and national government health insurance work towards covering these expenses.
If you go to a hospital or a general practitioner, most of the services you receive will be free of charge since the government is paying for them.
In addition to all that, private insurances in Canada legally can not cover the services the government already covers.
So, people generally buy these private insurances to cover things that the government does not cover, like the dentist.
Overall, the cost per patient in the Canadian healthcare system is way lower than the US healthcare.
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Another Quick Look at the US Healthcare System
The US healthcare generally works through private insurances, big or small ones, since the US government does not have any general insurance that pays for most of the stuff like the Canadian healthcare system.
Generally, poor Americans and seniors have insurance through Medicaid, but not many other people qualify for this government insurance.
This means that they either need to pay for private insurance, which could be high or remain uninsured.
Most Americans stay uninsured, and even with private insurance, you can face high charges that you have to pay from your own pocket since most private insurances do not cover these costs.
NCBI states that one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the US is the US healthcare system since it is extremely expensive for low- and middle-income people to pay.
Canada Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Year
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 83.2% |
| 2016 | 84.2% |
| 2017 | 84.7% |
| 2018 | 85.3% |
| 2019 | 85.5% |
| 2020 | 85.8% |
Canada Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Gender
| Year | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 79.3% | 86.9% |
| 2016 | 80.1% | 88.1% |
| 2017 | 80.9% | 88.4% |
| 2018 | 81.6% | 88.9% |
| 2019 | 82.6% | 88.3% |
| 2020 | 81.3% | 90.2% |
Canada Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Age
| Year | 12-17 | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 82.5% | 71.3% | 83% | 88.4% | 94% |
| 2016 | 82.7% | 74% | 83.1% | 89.1% | 94.2% |
| 2017 | 85.6% | 74.2% | 82.5% | 90.4% | 94.3% |
| 2018 | 87.8% | 74.7% | 84.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| 2019 | 86.6% | 75% | 84.9% | 89.9% | 94.3% |
| 2020 | 85.3% | 75.9% | 85.5% | 90.4% | 93.9% |
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US Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Year
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 63% |
| 2012 | 59% |
| 2013 | 62% |
| 2014 | 57% |
| 2015 | 57% |
| 2016 | 60% |
| 2017 | 59% |
| 2018 | 59% |
| 2019 | 57% |
| 2020 | 54% |
US Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Gender
| Year | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 65.3% | 65.9% |
| 2009 | 62.9% | 63.7% |
| 2010 | 61.1% | 62.4% |
| 2011 | 61.4% | 62.2% |
| 2012 | 61.8% | 61.9% |
| 2013 | 61.9% | 61.7% |
| 2014 | 63.8% | 61.5% |
| 2015 | 65.4% | 65.6% |
| 2016 | 66% | 65.4% |
| 2017 | 65.8% | 65.5% |
| 2018 | 65.7% | 65% |
US Healthcare Insurance Holder Statistics by Age
| Year | Under 18 | 18-44 | 45-64 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 27.2% | 8.3% | 5.5% |
| 2010 | 36.4% | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2014 | 39.4% | 13.8% | 9.9% |
| 2015 | 39.9% | 15% | 10.8% |
| 2016 | 39.6% | 16% | 11.6% |
| 2017 | 37.8% | 15.2% | 11.3% |
| 2018 | 38% | 15.5% | 10.7% |
The Verdict
To conclude, there are actually major base differences in Canada vs. the US healthcare system.
Even though both of these countries have a state-of-the-art, quality healthcare system with good hospitals and medical equipment, the costs of healthcare are the leading differences.
Canadian national government covers most of the health-related expenses when you visit a hospital or a GP, but the American government only covers that of seniors and extremely poor Americans, leading middle-income Americans to pay extremely high fees if they have to be admitted to the hospital.
Most of the private insurances in the US do not cover these high out-of-pocket expenses.
Source
https://medical.rossu.edu/about/blog/us-vs-canadian-healthcare#:~:text=The%20Canadian%20Institute%20for%20Health,per%20person%20according%20to%20CNBC.
Shefali Jain is a Content Writer & Editor at USWorkforce.org
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes. In her time at the organization, she has written and edited content on a range of topics, including employment law, human resources, and business management.