Premier Scott Moe joined with Canada’s premiers Thursday to call on the federal government for more support to the health care system.

Moe says this is an opportunity for the federal government to participate to a much higher and equitable level, by increasing the Canada Health Transfer from 22% to 35% during the upcoming federal budget.  This would represent an increase of $28 billion annually.  Moe says this will help Saskatchewan address a backlog of surgeries in the province and get back to reaching pre-COVID wait time targets.  “This is going to require a significant investment, in the tens of millions of dollars in each of the next 3, 4 and 5 years, at a time when our economy is still recovering from this pandemic we have all experienced in Canada and around the world.”

Moe says Saskatchewan’s surgical wait list is up to around 30,000 people due to the pandemic, and wait times have increased about 20%.  He states it’s time for the federal government to join the provinces and territories to create a health system that responds to the needs of all Canadians.  A healthcare system he says “that is patient centered, not just pandemic centered.”

Provinces and territories currently cover 78% of health care costs, and premiers are hoping to see federal contribution increase from $42 billion to $70 billion a year.  They also hope to maintain this contribution level over time with a minimum annual increase of 5%.