Medicare (Canada)
Medicare () is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded, single-payer health care system of Canada. Canada does not have a unified national health care system; instead, the system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans that provides universal health care coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and certain temporary residents. These systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the "Canada Health Act" and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.
History of cooperatives in Canada
The need for proper health services was common in Canada, especially in lands with low population density. This caused some rural cooperatives to make arrangements with doctors for their members as early as the 1920s. In the 1960s, inspired by the Beveridge report that British government started to implement after World War II, the Canadian government introduced universal health care in Saskatchewan. This led to strikes of the province's doctors, and cooperatives health clinics started to appear in Saskatoon.