The issues that led to development of Medicare in Manitoba

Abstract

This study examines the background, the issues and the participation of different groups in the policy process surrounding the introduction of medical care in Manitoba. The question for many years was not whether Manitobans needed medicare, but by what means they should proceed toward that ultimate goal. The universal medicare programme of 1969 was the end product of a long series of developments which took place in Manitoba over the last twenty-five years. The thesis traces such developments, beginning with the growth of the physician-sponsored voluntary prepayment plans up to the eventual entry of Manitoba into the national plan in 1969. To afford some appreciation of the factors that make health insurance very controversial, an attempt has been made in Chapter I to provide a background portrayal of federal involvement in health issues. Chapter II deals with the pre-medicare period in Manitoba. The move from voluntary to government medical insurance is dealt with in Chapter III. The factors behind each change, provide an interesting insight into the changing pattern of Manitoba's social structures during that period...