Students for Medicare advocates for maintaining and strengthening a publicly-funded, not-for-profit health care system. We focus on educating our colleagues and the general public on the issues Canada's health care system faces. We affirm that the solutions lie within the publicly-funded system envisioned by Tommy Douglas and his eventual plan for a second stage of Medicare. We have a strong commitment to equity and addressing the social determinants of health. We are students and practitioners of nursing, midwifery, medicine, public policy, other disciplines, and allies.

Our Guiding Principles

We believe that:

1. Health care is a right – not a privilege – and everyone should have equitable access to quality health care, regardless of ability to pay.

2. Health care is not, and should not be treated as, a regular market good.

3. Health care is one component of health, therefore a focus on the social determinants of health is essential.

4. We have a responsibility to advocate for a health care system that ensures equitable care for our communities.


Objectives

We aim to:

1. Evaluate the evidence on various models of health care.

2. Educate our peers and the public about Medicare and the current state of our health care system.

3. Advocate for solutions within a publicly-funded model.