Every one of us relishes the opportunity to retire comfortably with the freedom to travel, take up new hobbies, and live freely in our golden years. As Canadians, we have access to the Government of Canada’s National Pension Program (CPP) and Old Age Security. However, most of us choose to enhance our retirement plans by saving and investing our hard-earned money to allow us to live more comfortably. Similarly, we have access to some of the highest quality public transportation options available, yet we continue to purchase cars, bicycles or use ride sharing services or taxis when convenient. So, the question lies: if supplementing these government services is commonplace, why is it that we don’t put the same effort into supplementing our health care?

The Canadian health care system is often viewed as one of the top health care systems in the world. Ranked among the lowest of Western Industrial countries for health care by The Commonwealth Fund and #30 out of 191 countries by The World Health Organization, we begin to question if we really do have the best health care available[1][2].  This news may be staggering to many, but with over 30 years of underfunding, rapidly growing lineups, and doubling of wait times for many procedures, it is clear why Canada’s health care system has underperformed compared to our peer Nations. Yet even as the evidence mounts that our public health system is not perfect, but rather provides a floor of protection, most Canadians rarely expect or seek enhanced health care. If we live in a society where owning two or three vehicles is acceptable, why don’t we aspire to provide ourselves with high-quality medical care?

Maybe it is time to realize that, like retirement and transportation, great health care is just as much our responsibility as it is the governments. It is time to step out of wait lines and into the care we deserve. We have the power to provide ourselves number one care, we just must be willing to enhance our health care options with our own means.

If you want to learn about how you can supplement your healthcare plan, reach out to clientservice@sagium.com

[1] McAlister, Finlay A., Peter Cram, and Chaim M. Bell. 2018. “Comparing Canadian Health Care to That in Other Countries: Looking beyond the Headlines.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 190 (8): E207–8. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.171527.

[2] Tandon, Ajay, Christopher Murray, Jeremy Lauer, and David Evans. 2000. “MEASURING OVERALL HEALTH SYSTEM PERFORMANCE for 191 COUNTRIES.” https://www.who.int/healthinfo/paper30.pdf.