One-Tier Medicine

About the Book

There is no need for medicare to cover the cost of all medical services for all the population all the time. There is still a need for patients to be responsible for some direct costs.

This book shows that the problems of our multi-tiered medicare system could be solved or improved by a single-tier system which starts everyone at the same level. Some patients will need additional help. However, in any one year most Canadians will not have any serious illness, and in any one year some will have serious illness. Financial help will be needed for most of those serious illness, as well as the timely availability of appropriate medical services.

Factors described include the wants, needs, rights and responsibilities of patients, doctors and the paying agencies. Misconceptions about the health care business are mentioned, to add to understanding the system as it is and as it should be.

A crucial point is the need to relieve anxiety that people have about the possibility of bankruptcy from medical costs. They need the peace of mind that can come from knowing that the safety net is in place.

About the Author

The author has seen the evolution of Canada's health care system since his graduation in 1949 from the University of Alberta. After 25 years of general/family practice in Victoria, he had developed an interest in research in family medicine. This interest led him to the two-year M.Sc. program in Health Services Planning at the University of British Columbia. The program included courses in research methods, economics, and administration, as well as the history of health care in Canada. He then went to the University of Calgary as an associate professor of family medicine.

He has served on committees of the B.C. Medical Association and the College of Family Physicians of Canada. These contacts have exposed him to some of the planning for improved medical care, and also the frustrations of dealing with governments.