Please critically analyze the posted article. The purpose of the assignment is not to merely describe the content but rather to focus on: a) The key point Maioni wants to get acroos to the readers. b) Whether and why she is or is not convincing in making her case c) important "take-home" messages you come across Please check for grammar and spelling mistakes before submitting. Please use `Times New Roman` font size 12.

arting at the Crossroads

The Development of Health Insurance in Canada and the United States, 1940-1965

Antonia Maioni

Frequently raised in recent discussions about health care reform in the United States has been the model of the Canadian health insurance system.1 While debates about health insurance often turn into polemical battles over which country offers the "best" health care for its citizens, the issues at stake raise a fundamental question. Why did these two neighbors develop different forms of health insurance, a universal system of government-financed health care in Canada and a dual-tiered system of Medicare and Medicaid targeted at the elderly and poor in the United States? The contrast is even more significant when we consider that these two countries, generally classified as "liberal" welfare states,2 share many common economic, political, and social attributes and resemble one another in many of the features that influence welfare state expansion.3 Why, then, did Canada and the United States embark upon two very different paths to health reform, one of the most important pillars of the welfare state?