Canada’s First Ministers are meeting today [thurs] for what Premier Scott Moe calls an incredibly important conversation on the future of the Canada Health Transfer. Moe says It’s past time that the Prime Minister took serious action to address the unanimous concern of Canada’s premiers regarding consistent federal under-funding of Canada’s health system.

Moe says the premiers believe the country needs an immediate and sustained injection to the Health Transfer to bring the federal share up to 35 per cent. Medicare was based on the principle of 50/50 funding, but the federal contribution has not kept pace over the years and now the Health Transfer only accounts for 22 per cent of healthcare spending.

The Canadian Medical Association agrees, saying the health care system is at a breaking point. The Association says that, if action isn’t taken, the federal share of health care funding will fall below 20 per cent by 2026.

Moe says Rising health care cost drivers are putting unsustainable financial pressure on provinces and territories- and while this was true before global pandemic, it’s more important now than ever that federal funding keep pace with these cost pressures.