Canada. Health Insurance Directorate : The Directorate of Health Insurance Studies was established by Order in Council (P.C. 186/7500, December 29, 1945) following the federal proposals for health grants and health insurance programs to the Dominion-Provincial Conference on Reconstruction.
Prior to the creation of this Directorate in the newly formed Department of National Health and Welfare, exhaustive studies and investigations had been conducted in the field of health insurance and related matters by the Director of Public Health Services in the pre-existing Department of Pensions and National Health. The defined duties of the newly created Directorate at that time included the continuation of studies which were published in the Minutes of the Proceedings of the House of Commons Special Committee on Social Security.
As a development of this earlier work, the function of the Directorate of Health Insurance Studies may now be regarded as carrying on intensive and exhaustive study of existing facilities and future requirements in the field of medical, hospital, dental and nursing services and of various economic methods of providing such services.
In addition to study and planning activities, the Directorate was to be intimately concerned with all administrative matters rising out of The Proposals of the Government of Canada and The Health, Welfare and Labour Reference Book, published in cooperation with the Inter-departmental Working Committee on Health Insurance. This was to include the administration of the health grants and other funds provided by the federal government wherever appropriate departmental agencies might not be functioning.
As plans for the extension of the health program developed in 1955, a separation was made in the responsibilities of the directorate and it was divided into two administrations. A Health Grants Administration was charged with the continuing responsibility for the administration of the Health Grants Program; and a Health Insurance Administration was charged with responsibilities in connection with the hospital insurance and diagnostic services program, as well as continuing responsibility for further health insurance studies.
