Moe joins push for big boost in health funds

Canada's premiers are renewing their call for a multibillion-dollar boost to health funding from Ottawa, and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is among those who aren't sold on talk of federal conditions to direct the money toward long-term care or pharmacare.

In a teleconference with media Thursday, premiers argued that the federal government can afford to boost its share of health funding from about 22 per cent to 35 per cent, while provinces can't afford the added costs of aging, population growth and more expensive equipment all on their own. That would amount to about $28 billion in supplementary funding per year, with an escalator to keep it growing.

While the federal government has shown openness to talking about an increase to the Canada Health Transfer, premiers came out against any notion of tying the funds to conditions. They argued that each province has its own unique needs, with Moe repeatedly mentioning surgical wait times as top of mind for Saskatchewan.

He said any money committed for specific funding streams, like long-term care or pharmacare, should come “above and beyond” the $28 billion premiers are demanding to keep up with costs across the system.

“I understand why the federal government might want to prioritize those initiatives, but the fact of the matter is we need a full funding partner in the very core services that our health-care systems are delivering,” he said.

Moe noted that the COVID-19 pandemic forced Saskatchewan to cancel and suspend thousands of surgeries, pushing the surgical wait list up to 30,000 people. He said his government still aims to meet its wait time targets, but that will take serious spending.

“This is going to require significant investment in the tens of billions of dollars in each of the next three, four and five years — and this is at a time when our economy is still recovering from this pandemic,” he said.

Moe said provinces are now propping up the health system almost entirely on their own. He said premiers have been pleading for money for decades, and argued it shouldn't take a pandemic to grab Ottawa's attention.

“The challenges that our healthcare system is facing today are not solely due to the pandemic,” said Moe. “Health care across Canada was under pressure prior to the arrival of the COVID -19 virus and we need to address those pressures, and we need to do so immediately.”