Editing Medicare (Canada) (section)

===Privatization===
Currently, privately owned and operated hospitals that allow patients to pay [[Out-of-pocket expenses|out-of-pocket]] for services cannot obtain public funding in Canada, as they contravene the "equal accessibility" tenets of the ''Canada Health Act''. Some politicians and medical professionals have proposed{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} allowing public funding for these hospitals. Workers' Compensation Boards, the [[Canadian Forces]], the RCMP, federally incarcerated prisoners, and medical care for which an insurance company has liability (e.g., motor vehicle accidents) all pay for health care outside of the public systems in all provinces.<ref name="Canada Health Act Overview"/><ref>[http://www.taxpayer.com/main/news.php?news_id=1833 B.C. Canadian Taxpayers Federation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108232550/http://www.taxpayer.com/main/news.php?news_id=1833 |date=November 8, 2007 }}</ref>

In Quebec, a recent legal change has allowed this reform to occur. In June 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a Quebec law preventing people from buying private health insurance to pay for medical services available through the publicly funded system and this ruling does not apply outside the province. See: [[Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General)]].<ref>{{Citation
| title = Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 SCC 35
| access-date = July 11, 2011
| date = June 9, 2005
| url = http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2005/2005scc35/2005scc35.html
}}</ref>

In November 2005, the Quebec government announced that it would allow residents to purchase private medical insurance to comply with this ruling.

Private insurance from companies such as [[Blue Cross Blue Shield Association|Blue Cross]], [[Green Shield Canada|Green Shield]] and [[Manulife]] have been available for many years to cover services not covered by the Canadian health care system, such as dental care and some eye care. Private insurance is provided by many employers as a benefit.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) released a report<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=fe42e2be-077a-4193-a7c0-d6fc2e242269&k=12821 |title=Doctors' group prescribes private health care |publisher=Canada.com |date=July 30, 2007 |access-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026020309/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=fe42e2be-077a-4193-a7c0-d6fc2e242269&k=12821 |archive-date=October 26, 2012 }}</ref> in July 2007 endorsing private healthcare as a means to improve an ailing healthcare system. [[Brian Day|Dr. Brian Day]], who acted as President of the CMA in 2007/2008, is the owner of the largest private healthcare hospital in Canada and a proponent of mixed public and private healthcare in Canada.