Saskatchewan is now the fourth province to make a bilateral deal with the federal government on health-care transfers.
On Tuesday, the province confirmed that the two parties have agreed to federal funding over 10 years, for home care and mental health.
“While we’re disappointed that it wasn’t everything that we asked for that we’re in a situation right now where frankly because of money we need in areas that are of priority for the federal… we think it’s very important to just get started,” Provincial Health Minister Jim Reiter said.
Saskatchewan will receive $348.8 million in funding, with $190.3 million for home care, which includes home-care infrastructure, and $158.5 million toward mental health.
The Saskatchewan government said the agreement amounts to the province’s portion of the federal government’s offer at the health accord talks in December.
Talks originally fell through after the provinces rejected $11 billion over 10 years for home care and mental health, as well as $544 million over five years for prescription drugs and “innovation” initiatives, on top of a 3.5 per cent annual increase in health transfers.
READ MORE: Provinces, territories take a pass on Trudeau government’s health care funding offer
The provinces said the Trudeau government refused to negotiate a new federal health-care funding framework, instead putting forward a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer.
“At some point in time, just have to understand. We have limited leverage in this. We absolutely need money for health care,” Reiter said.
According to Reiter, the 0.5 per cent difference in health-transfer payments that the province originally rejected is still expected to come to the province — but in a different form.
“There’s also an understanding between the finance ministers that that extra half per cent that was offered in December will be made up in a different avenue,” Reiter said.
“They still have to work out how that will be but that will be the first two years of the agreement.”
Later in December, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador signed their own deals with the government.
Canada’s annual health transfer payment increase is poised to drop in April to three per cent a year – half the six per cent it has been since 2004.
The Saskatchewan deal follows the current structure where base health transfers will increase by three per cent per year, or the rate of growth of nominal GDP, whichever is higher.
The agreement will take effect at the end of March.
The provincial health minister also added that if there’s separate agreement with any other provinces that would be more advantageous than this one, the deal will apply to Saskatchewan as well.
2-for-1 MRIs
The province also announced Tuesday that the federal government will back off on the issue surrounding Saskatchewan’s private MRI practice.
The controversial legislation allowed private clinics to offer MRI scans to those willing to pay. Under Saskatchewan’s legislation, the patient also have to pay for someone on the public waiting list.
In November, Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott ordered Saskatchewan to stop the practice.
“They should line up on who has the highest medical priority, and not in accordance with who has the most money,” Philpott said in November.
Now Reiter said there’s been an extension on that front. He said the federal government is giving Saskatchewan a year to prove to them that the system is working.
“We think we’re in a very strong position that we’ll get a reprieve or two to have an opportunity to make our case to the federal health minister,” Reiter explained.
“We believe there’s a good opportunity to reach a successful conclusion to that.”
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