• Canadians have flexibility in choosing doctors under that country's national health insurance program.o' canada image by Kathryn Palmer from Fotolia.com
  
  Universal health care exists throughout western Europe and Canada. The importance of health care as a human right has been recognized since the 1800s. Countries such as Germany, France and Great Britain have sought to care for all of its citizens while keeping health-care providers and pharmacists paid for their societal contributions as well.
  
  

Germany

• Social health insurance began in Germany as early as the 19th century, making it a model for all other developed countries. Today, all blue-collar workers, some white-collar workers and salaried employees and their employers must pay a sickness fund tax from their payroll to cover health care for themselves and their families. Germans who are self-employed and highly paid white-collar workers have a choice of either purchasing private health insurance or buying into the social insurance funds. Germany's elderly, disabled or unemployed are always covered by either a previous occupation sickness fund, a local area fund or pension check deductions.
  
  

France

• Like Germans, the French pay payroll taxes into a sickness fund and have been doing so since 1945. Local offices throughout the country collect the tax money and pay hospitals for stays and reimburse members for prescriptions and doctor's visits. Exempted workers who pay into separate funds for health-care coverage are the self employed, miners, railway workers and civil servants. The elderly, unemployed and disabled have deductions taken from pension and benefit checks.
  
  

Great Britain

• In 1945 Great Britain socialized the National Health Service into which premiums were being paid for health-care coverage by employers and members of the working class. Socialization meant that hospitals became state property and all citizens would be taxed and covered, not just working class members. All services, physician salaries and pharmaceutical drugs are financed by the government. Improvements implemented in the 1990s are now holding providers more accountable for the quality of health care being given.
  
  

Canada

• Canada's social insurance system differs from the others in two ways. Foreigners in the country are not covered and must self pay and members of the system are not confined to one doctor or forced to get referrals to see specialists. In Canada, health care is paid for by each individual province and residents only have to register with their province to be covered. Should a Canadian get sick while visiting another province, their province of registration will still pay their health-care fees.