Canada's premiers are furious after the government imposed a new 10-year health accord last month, without any consultation or negotiation, shrinking annual increases in four years and according to a story by Rob Shaw and Cindy E. Hartnett .
The premiers said the accord “institutes a per person funding formula for health care that will have profound effects on provincial health budgets and, ultimately, health-care services for citizens.”
“The edict has left many premiers east of Manitoba seething, and the western ones celebrating the prospect of the federal government finally getting out of the way,” Dirk Meissner of the Winnipeg Free Press writes.
The premiers united Monday “to demand that the federal government reopen its ‘unprecedented and unacceptable’ decisions over health-care funding,” even as the prime minister tried to shut down any further debate.
Mark Kennedy and James Wood explain that “Harper was slammed for the Conservative government's move to limit the increases on federal financing for medicare without first consulting the provinces.”"The premiers were unanimous that the federal government's decision to unilaterally decide funding was unprecedented and unacceptable," British Columbia (B.C.) Premier Christy Clark told Shaw and Hartnett, speaking as chairwoman of a meeting of 13 provincial and territorial leaders in Victoria.
B.C. would lose about $250 million annually under per capita funding, starting in 2014-15. Clark demanded that Ottawa restart talks over funding.
But, according to Shaw and Hartnett, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said no.
"I hope that we can put the funding issue aside, and they can concentrate on actually talking about health care, because that's the discussion we'll be having," Harper told the CBC's Peter Mansbridge during an interview.
Harper also repudiated the idea of providing extra money to provinces that show innovations in healthcare, as B.C. advocates. "I'm not looking to spend more money," Harper told Shaw and Hartnett.
"I don't think that conversation is over by a long shot," Clark said. "I'm not even sure it began. . .You look historically, there have been other prime ministers who have said, 'This is my bottom line, take it or leave it,' but there's still been room for discussion at the end of the day."
The premiers pledged to work together to reform the health-care system and potentially save billions through innovation and efficiencies, according to the story.
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Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Carrie Schmelkin
