Canadian Health Insurance:
Lessons for the United States
HRD-91-90: Published: Jun 4, 1991. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 1991.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Canada's universal, publicly funded health insurance system, focusing on the implications for health care costs and access if the U.S. adopted elements of the system.
GAO found that: (1) the Canadian system provided health insurance coverage to all residents regardless of financial or health status, with access limited only by each province's annual health care budget; (2) Canada's single payer arrangement lowered the cost of administering private and public health insurance and helped reduce the administrative costs borne by hospitals, physicians, and patients; (3) the single payer framework limited spending growth for physician services by controlling physician fees; (4) Canada constrained hospital costs by allocating lump-sum budgets to individual hospitals and setting constraints on the acquisition and use of high-technology equipment and services; (5) Canadians experienced few problems with access to primary care services, but limited hospital operating budgets for new medical technology limited patients' access to some high-technology services; (6) Canadian patients with immediate or life-threatening needs rarely waited for services, but waiting lists for elective surgery and diagnostic procedures were sometimes several months long; (7) if the United States employed a system of universal coverage and a single payer arrangement, the savings in administrative costs would be more than enough to offset the expense of universal coverage in the short term; and (8) in the long term, effective limitations on provider payments through global budgeting and negotiated physician fees could significantly constrain the future growth of U.S. health spending, leading to further cost savings.
Feb 24, 2021
-
Covid-19:
Key Insights from GAO's Oversight of the Federal Public Health ResponseGAO-21-396T: Published: Feb 24, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 24, 2021.
Feb 17, 2021
Feb 11, 2021
-
Operation Warp Speed:
Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Development Status and Efforts to Address Manufacturing ChallengesGAO-21-319: Published: Feb 11, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 11, 2021.
Feb 5, 2021
-
DOD Health Care:
DOD Should Monitor Implementation of Its Clinical Practice GuidelinesGAO-21-237: Published: Feb 5, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 5, 2021. -
Medicaid:
CMS Needs to Implement Risk-Based Oversight of Puerto Rico's Procurement ProcessGAO-21-229: Published: Feb 5, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 5, 2021. -
VA Health Care:
Community Living Centers Were Commonly Cited for Infection Control Deficiencies Prior to the COVID-19 PandemicGAO-21-195R: Published: Jan 6, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 5, 2021.
Jan 28, 2021
-
COVID-19:
Critical Vaccine Distribution, Supply Chain, Program Integrity, and Other Challenges Require Focused Federal AttentionGAO-21-265: Published: Jan 28, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 28, 2021.
Jan 21, 2021
-
Rural Hospital Closures:
Affected Residents Had Reduced Access to Health Care ServicesGAO-21-93: Published: Dec 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 21, 2021. -
Health Care Funding:
Federal Obligations to and Funds Received by Certain Organizations Involved in Health-Related Services, 2016 through 2018GAO-21-188R: Published: Dec 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 21, 2021.
Jan 14, 2021
-
Medicaid:
Data Completeness and Accuracy Have Improved, Though Not All Standards Have Been MetGAO-21-196: Published: Jan 14, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here