Premiers prepare for health fund showdown
Premiers Stephen McNeil, Justin Trudeau and Bob Rae are in Ottawa on Wednesday to talk about funding for the nation’s health plan, but what could be the final push by the Liberal government to secure the funding before the May 9 federal election?
McNeil says the government is working on a proposal to provide about $250 million in funding to provinces each year for at least two years — through a special fund, which the government has declined to describe.
READ MORE: Health minister seeks $450M for health-care reform
„There’s no reason, right now, to delay any longer … but we want to see it happen before the fall,“ McNeil told reporters in Ottawa.
The Liberals believe the fund would also provide additional federal cash for hospitals and health groups, and a fund to provide affordable prescriptions to lower income Can우리카지노adians.
The fund would be available t카지노 사이트o any province that doesn’t have a public hospital with its own funding source and would start with a cap of $1.4 billion in 2015-16.
McNeil says in theory, provinces could provide the $250 million directly through their health funds, but would need to seek additional federal funding.
The federal government has proposed to spend $12.7 billion a year on health-care policy through 2016-17.
But there’s also the question of who could contribute the $250 million each year to ensure that the health fund is fully funded.
McNeil says the government has a „fair plan“ for how that should be funded, but the timing and the source of the funding „have not been finalized.“
Trudeau says the funding could come through something called a „Medicare for All“ system in which everyone would get the same basic monthly payment, as opposed to individual payouts to provinces that fund health programs.
He said provinces would need to decide t바카라heir own „access“ to a universal fund, and would need to negotiate the terms and conditions of the funding, which might not include providing a private insurance plan for seniors.
But McNeil says there’s no way to fund all the changes promised by the Liberals beyond $250 million.
„This is not about funding our health care — this is about the Canadian middle class getting better health and getting the care they need,“ he said in question period Wednesday morning.
Trudeau said Wednesday his „top priority“ at the meeting is a strong, affordable and healthy Canada and he wants to continue the „ong