RDN suggests that government health transfers should take British Columbia’s aging population into account

The Regional District of Nanaimo will seek support from other local governments across the country to make changes to federal health care allocations as the population ages.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, RDN directors approved a resolution requiring age adjustments in the Canada Health Transfer and will forward it to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which includes local governments from across the country.

Government of Canada money is being distributed to provinces and territories to support health care, but with statistics suggesting B.C. will have one of the highest senior populations in the country in the coming decades, changes are needed, an RDN staff report says . As people age to 85 and older, a growing number of people will face limitations and long-term health problems, the report said.

“These differences in both the percentage of the older senior population and the growth rate of that population mean that the same per capita funding through the CHT is unable to provide comparable funding to every citizen from year to year.” Differences in the growth rates of the older population… will continue to create inequalities and challenges,” the report said.

As proposed by the Canadian Medical Association and the CanadaWest Foundation, the report says it will seek a funding model that takes into account the demographic characteristics of each province and territory.

“With an age-adjusted per capita allocation, provinces and territories with older populations would receive a larger share [health transfer] to get their higher healthcare costs under control,” the report continued.

At the meeting, directors discussed whether the resolution should be forwarded to the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities and the Union of BC Municipalities. Tyler Brown, director of the City of Nanaimo, was one of those who suggested going only to FCM.

“There is obviously overlap here when it comes to health care, but this is really about something that is national and a federal program, and I think the process is best aligned with FCM,” he said.

RDN staff will present the resolution in time for an FCM board meeting in the fall.

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