A successful Charter challenge to medicare? Policy options for Canadian provincial governments
Article
In Canada, every province must meet conditions set out in the federal Canada Health Act. In September 2016, a case went to trial in British Columbia that tests the constitutionality of provincial laws that:
- Ban private health insurance for medically necessary hospital and physician services
- Ban extra-billing (i.e., physicians charging patients more than the public tariff)
- Require physicians to work solely for the public system or ‘opt-out’ and practice privately
In September of 2020, that running was struck down, in a major blow to proponents of two-tiered healthcare in Canada. This paper explains the legal and policy options available to Canadian lawmakers who might want to limit two-tier care if a court challenge to existing laws is ever successful.
As its author adeptly explains, a provincial government could either allow privatization or create new legal and policy solutions to improve equity and access and tackle some long-standing problems in Canadian medicare.
Written before the court ruling was delivered, this paper is a clear-headed look at what might happen in the wake of a successful court challenge, which would surely have a significant impact on the future of ‘medicare’ in Canada.
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