Canadian Universal Health Insurance Reduces Racial Disparities in Primary Care Access

19 Oct Canadian Universal Health Insurance Reduces Racial Disparities in Primary Care Access

Posted at 01:40h in Author Interviews, Primary Care, Race/Ethnic Diversity by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Arjumand Siddiqi, Sc.D., Assistant Professor
Departments of Epidemiology and Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario Canada

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Siddiqi: The main finding of the study is that, in a society with universal health insurance (Canada), racial disparities in access to primary care are drastically reduced, with some important exceptions.

MedicalResearch: What was most surprising about the results?

Dr. Siddiqi: We didn’t expect as much parity in access to care across racial groups as our results indicated.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Siddiqi: Our study suggests that clinicians and patients (and indeed, society at large) should support the implementation of universal access to health care – meaning, a unified system of health care in which everyone is equally insured – in societies where this has not yet been realized.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Siddiqi: Future research should investigate the process through which such universal systems can be supported and brought about. Future research should also investigate the factors that would lead to better access amongst sub-populations (most notably, First Nations/Aboriginal groups) who, even in the face of universal health insurance, experience reduced access to basic primary care.

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