Cost sharing the norm for universal health care countries throughout the developed world; Canada is the outlier

Canada remains one of the few developed countries with a universal-access health care system that doesn’t require patients to participate in paying for care through some form of user fees, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Most countries in the industrialized world with universal coverage for health care charge user fees for access to hospitals, general practitioners or specialists with exemptions for low income citizens and individuals with chronic long-term illnesses. Canada is an outlier,” said Steven Globerman, Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Select Cost Sharing in Universal Health Care Countries.