The most important issue facing Canadian health care today is access to services. But who decides what services will be publicly funded, and how? The essays in Just Medicare explore the diverse means by which law influences what should and should not be covered by publicly-funded Medicare.

Edited by Colleen M. Flood, the collection demonstrates three analytical approaches to the question of what services attract public funding. The first describes the existing processes for determining what is in and out of the publicly-funded sector and what is left to the private sector. The...

Historically, the Supreme Court of Canada has avoided direct intervention in health care policy-making. This posture changed dramatically with the release of the Chaoulli decision in June 2005. In a narrow four-to-three decision, the Supreme Court struck down Quebec laws prohibiting the sale of private health insurance on the basis that they violate Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Three of the four judges in the majority also found the provisions violate section seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In a blistering dissent however, the three...