Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP (KTC) Cathy McLeod, who is also Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, issued a news release on April 2 "set the record straight" about federal health care transfers to provinces.
"Health transfers by the federal government to provinces and territories will reach $40 billion annually by the end of the decade. We remain committed to increasing health transfers year after year, making this the highest recorded health transfer dollars in history."
She explained total Canada Health Transfer (CHT) funding increase by six per cent between 2011 (when it was legislated) and 2016/17.
Beginning in 2017/18, the total funding will increase with a three-year moving average in line with the nominal Gross Domestic Product and with a guaranteed minimum growth of three per cent per year, McLeod said.
"Further, we need to make sure the system is sustainable. That is why [Health Minister Rona Ambrose] last June launched an Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation."
She noted the goal is to identify innovations with the potential to reduce growth in health-care spending while improving quality and accessibility of care.
The panel is expected to file its report by June, McLeod said.
"I believe our government is clearly on track to create a more innovative, effective and financially sustainable health-care system."
However,(KTC) New Democrat candidate Bill Sundhu argued Canada needs a new health accord.
"[Prime Minister Stephen] Harper's agenda for health care is leading to the fragmentation of services. Increasingly, access to care depends on where you live."
The federal government contributed 50 per cent of health-care funding when Medicare began in 1966, and it is now at 20 per cent and continues to drop, he noted.
Since the 10-year Health Accord expired a year ago, Sundhu said Harper has cut health-care spending by $36 billion over the next decade while linking transfers to economic growth.
Steve Powrie, KTC Liberal candidate, said the accord was a negotiated agreement that ensured equitable funding across Canada until it lapsed, and government brought down another plan.
"What is not mentioned in [McLeod's] press release is that the Conservatives ... imposed a unilateral health plan without consultation with the provinces and territories...."
The Conservatives also eliminated funding for the independent Health Council of Canada, which monitored and reported on provincial health-care delivery, Powrie noted.
"Health-care professionals have called for the federal government to once again become the guardians of national medicare, and to collaboratively negotiate an agreement that will be more reflective of the needs and concerns of Canadians."
Without a Health Accord, Sundhu said federal funds to the provinces have "no strings attached."
"We're deeply concerned that without a Health Accord any leverage the federal government has to ensure provinces are complying with the Canada Health Act is eliminated ... we have to take a stand if we want to save public health care in Canada."