“Canadians want to see their health-care system get better”

Federal and provincial health ministers met in Toronto too discuss the federal government’s planned cut to the annual increase in federal funding for health care.

Next year the Canada Health Transfer, the amount of money the federal government gives the provinces each year to pay for health care, will stop increasing by six per cent and instead will only increase by three per cent.

Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette called the meeting as “the single concrete  takeaway from the meeting is that the federal government is cutting health-care funding and forcing the provinces and territories to make tough choices.”. “For today we know there will be a cut of $60 billion of funding from the federal government over the next 10 years,” Barrette said.  “That means all provinces and territories must make difficult choices because we are being asked to do more with less. And on top of that we are being told what to do. So I don’t think this is the end of the story.”

Barrette said the premiers are frustrated not only with the prospect of less money, but also with having any additional money tied to delivering specific programs, such as home care. He is optimistic the overall system can be improved, however.

Philpott defended the government’s funding position, insisting that any new investments must be made with a clear plan to improve patient care. “It’s really important for Canadians to know that we are going to continue to contribute to the Canadian Health Transfer,” she said. “In fact over the next five years there will be an additional contribution, something in the order of $19 billion on top of the already $36 billion per year.”

Philpott said that amount will continue to rise over time and the Liberal government will give additional funds, first for home care, and then down the line for other areas such as mental health, she said. “Canadians want to see their health-care system get better and we have a responsibility to do that,” she said.