Canada's Health Care System

Canada's health care system, the nation's most popular publicly financed service, has for years demonstrated a capacity to deliver universal, high-quality medical care for considerably less than the cost of care in several other Western industrialized nations, particularly the United States. Rich or poor, young or old, all of Canada's 25.5 million citizens receive care through its health scheme, which stands as the bulwark of its social programs. But now new strains — perhaps the inevitable consequence of a system that was designed to protect Canada's population from the economic consequences of illness, to limit the government's financial commitment, and . . .