Canada: "Universal" Health Care

This article is authored by a Canadian writer and is fundamentally about Canada's "universal health coverage" however, the author uses examples such as, "A study involving 1283 women from 10 European countries,² for example, revealed that, compared with women born in their country of residence, foreign-born women were 3 times more likely to receive inadequate prenatal care; those without health insurance, however, were 19 times more likely."to prove the inadequacies of universal coverage in countries where immigrants and refugees are under served and under represented.

It is apparent that even in seemingly functional universal health systems such as those in Canada and the UK, there are flaws and the under served are still falling through the cracks. It was mentioned that many physicians and caretakers in Canada donate a portion of their time or do not take their fee when dealing with non insured patients. I would suggest to the Canadian government that they create some sort of program where they pay physicians a reduced fee for a few hours or ask physicians for a small amount of donated time per year at a free clinic for immigrants and refugees. The population will be triaged assuring that pregnant women and the most sick are seen in order of importance and are assured that they will not be turned away.