As health funding deal nears, N.B. premier not expecting feds to offer 'full amount' of provinces' transfer ask

The premier of New Brunswick says it’s “exciting” and “encouraging” the federal government and the provinces are getting closer to a long-term health-care funding deal, but that he’s doubtful the premiers will receive the full amount they’re asking for.

Blaine Higgs told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, the negotiations over whether the federal government will send more money to the provinces for health care — plus how much they’ll send and with what conditions attached — have “ramped up significantly in the last few weeks” after a “long process.”

The provinces have long been calling for the federal government to increase funds through the Canada Health Transfer from 22 per cent to 35 per cent of health-care costs, about an additional $28 billion a year.

“It isn’t my sense that they'll come with the full amount, let's put it that way,” Higgs said. “But between where we are and where we've asked, there's a number in there somewhere.”

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Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos signalled this week the federal government may be getting closer to a deal with the provinces, while some premiers have also said they may be willing to accept some of the federal government's conditions.

“I would like to recognize that there has been significant progress over the last few weeks,” Duclos said Friday. “I’m positive and optimistic, as the prime minister is also, as he has signaled earlier this week.”

“And that's because we have seen a shift towards a focus on what matters to Canadians, which are results for patients and health-care workers," he also said.

METRICS MAY VARY BY PROVINCE

The federal government’s conditions include access to family health teams; reducing backlogs in surgeries and diagnostics; retaining, recruiting, and recognizing the credentials of health-care workers; investing in mental health; and modernizing the system so medical records can be shared with various providers, electronically.

Higgs said his understanding is those outcomes and the metrics for their success could vary by province, but they could include indicators such as the number of people without a family doctor, or the status of critical surgeries or treatment, for example.

He said the federal government and the provinces are likely to start by sharing data, and from there ironing out “individual nuances” according to specific provinces.

“So you're going to go through a number of key areas and say: ‘okay, how does that look across the country, and where do we see major areas that are not falling within provincial standard or Canadian standard’, and that would likely end up being tied to the improvement, and we would be left to find the best way to achieve that,” he explained. “But I think to say it's tied to an actual result is a good thing.”

Higgs said the plan is for a long-term funding model, as opposed to a “one-off situation.”

“Maybe some of the metrics would change over time,” Higgs said. “If you reach the standards in one area, then it goes to another and there may be an ongoing requirement to demonstrate that it's getting results.”

“And that's fine,” he also said. “I think a continuous improvement program is important in any field, but it needs to be a funding formula that we can count on and is an ongoing contribution from the federal government.”

Duclos hasn’t specified how close they are to a deal, only to say it’s likely in the “coming weeks,” which could signal it will be before the next federal budget, typically tabled in the spring.

With files from CTVNews.ca’s senior digital parliamentary reporter Rachel Aiello