'We're going to work flexibly' with provinces and territories on setting terms of health funding deals: Duclos
CTV
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos insists the federal government is going to 'work flexibly' with the provinces on the terms of a possible health-care funding deal and avoid 'micromanaging' how they deliver health care to Canadians.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set the date for Feb. 7 for a long-awaited meeting between the federal government and the premiers to hash out a health care funding deal.
While Duclos said any new funding will be attached to accountability and metrics to achieve “better outcomes for patients and workers,” he also said there won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach for all the regions.
“We are also going to work flexibly with provinces and territories because they are not at the same place,” he told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday. “There are some provinces in Canada, where access to a family health team is almost 90 per cent, other provinces is below 80 per cent, and that's something we should recognize and should work with provinces and territories to address.”
The provinces have long been calling for the federal government to increase funds through the Canada Health Transfer from 22 per cent to 35 per cent of health-care costs, about an additional $28 billion a year.
