OTTAWA—The federal government should learn from past experience and recognize the limited success of attempts to achieve health care reform by attaching strings to the money it gives to the provinces, a new report says.
There are many ways the federal government can ensure an improved health-care system, including in areas it already oversees such as First Nations, according to the study published July 7 by the C.D. Howe Institute.
It comes as the government continues to negotiate a new health accord—the agreement between Ottawa and the provinces and territories that sets shared goals for how billions in federal funds are spent on health.
The previous Conservative government allowed the last deal to expire. The 10-year, $41 billion agreement had been signed in 2004 under then-Liberal prime minister Paul Martin.
The new Liberal government hopes to have an agreement in place by year’s end.
Under the Constitution, health policy is a provincial responsibility but the federal government has used its “spending power” to influence the way the system is managed, the report said.
