PrintCMA, CFNU and other health care organizations call for increased federal investment in health care
CFNU also publishes white paper on risks from planned federal cuts to Canada Health Transfer
Ottawa and Canadian provinces and territories must invest in solutions that create a healthier Canada, leaders of the Canadian Medical Association and other health care groups said in a statement this morning.
Timed to coincide with the provincial and territorial premiers’ meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney today at the end of their annual summer gathering in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the statement called for increased federal investment in health care, a commitment to enforcing the Canada Health Act, and finding ways for health care systems to share data safely and securely.
“An investment in health care is an investment in Canada’s future: with every dollar the federal government spends on health, more than $1.30 is generated in additional GDP,” said the statement, signed by leaders of the CMA, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, the Canadian Health Coalition, Friends of Medicare, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, the Canadian Nurses Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
On Wednesday, the CFNU published a White Paper that outlines how looming changes to the Canada Health Transfer will result in significantly less health care funding for provinces and territories.
The analysis, entitled The Harsh Reality of a Reduced CHT Growth Rate, found that with an average growth rate of 3.8 per cent annually, the cumulative CHT will be $51.8 billion less over 10 years than if the escalator remained at 5-per-cent annual growth.
