Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos insists that the federal government will “work flexibly” with the provinces on the terms of a possible health care funding agreement and avoid “micromanaging” the how they provide health care to Canadians.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set the date for February 7 for a long-awaited meeting between the federal government and premiers to negotiate a health care funding deal.
While Duclos said any new funding will be tied to accountability and measures to achieve “better outcomes for patients and workers,” he also said there won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. regions.
“We’re also going to work flexibly with the provinces and territories, because they’re not in the same place,” he told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos during an interview. interview aired Sunday. “There are some provinces in Canada where access to a family health team is close to 90%, other provinces are less than 80%, and that’s something we should recognize and work with. provinces and territories to address them.
Provinces have long called on the federal government to increase funding through the Canada Health Transfer by 22% to 35% of health care costs, or about $28 billion more per year.
Meanwhile, the federal government has said it is ready to send more money to the provinces, but with certain conditions and parameters to be met, including reducing delays in surgeries and diagnoses; retaining, recruiting and recognizing the credentials of health care workers; investing in mental health; and modernizing the system so that medical records can be shared with various providers electronically.
Duclos did not say whether any funding agreements would come with fixed timelines by which provinces would have to deliver results, but he said that ultimately it was up to the provinces to deliver care to Canadians.
“We must first respect the fact that it is the provinces and territories that are responsible for the actual delivery of health care to their citizens and that is a difficult task,” he said. “So one of the responsibilities of the federal government is to recognize that it’s their role and responsibility to do that and not try to pretend that we should be micromanaging health care systems across Canada. »
Duclos wouldn’t say if the full $28 billion a year is on the table in negotiations with the provinces, but New Brunswick Prime Minister Blaine Higgs told Kapelos earlier this month, he does not expect to receive the full application.
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