Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has announced that eight provinces, including Alberta, will see deductions in health transfer funding, March 10, 2023. (Photo: Canadian Press)

By David Opinko

Added comments from Alberta Health Minister

Alberta to lose $13.7 million in federal health transfers

Mar 10, 2023 | 2:21 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Government of Canada says it will reduce health transfer funds to eight provinces.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has announced mandatory deductions to the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) that were levied to eight provinces in 2020-21, which total over $82 million.

Duclos says the deductions are in response to some provinces charging patients for medically necessary healthcare services that he believes should have been provided at no cost to the patient.

He adds that he is “very concerned” with a recent increase in reports of this happening.

“No Canadian should be paying out of pocket for medically necessary services and our government will not tolerate it,” says Duclos. “As the nature of care evolves, we must protect Canadians’ ability to access medically necessary services free of charge — no matter how or where care is delivered. We will continue to work with provinces and territories to improve our healthcare system in a manner that strengthens its public, accessible, and universal nature.”

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A news release from the Government of Canada states that in 2020-21, eight provinces charged patients a combined $76 million for medically necessary diagnostic services, while $6 million was billed for other charges including insured services provided at private surgical facilities and insured abortion services.

Each of the provinces will see deductions in funding that are equal to the additional charges that were levied to patients.

Alberta is set to have a total deduction under the Diagnostic Services Policy of $13,781,152. The Government of Alberta has not yet responded to a request for comments.

Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says he and the Government of Alberta fully support the principles that underpin the public health system.

Copping highlighted funding increases to the public healthcare system in the new provincial budget, including an additional $12 million for diagnostic scans.

At the same time, Copping says he is disappointed in the reduction in health transfer funding.

““Alberta has in place a robust audit system to ensure there are no extra billing or user fee charge issues. This is why we don’t agree with the findings of the federal government,” says Copping. “That said, there is an onus on all parties to work together to assess any issues and address them accordingly, based on the appropriate application of the legislation and policies in place.”

Copping says in a statement that the provincial government will form a legal opinion on Ottawa’s decision to deduct health funding.

The other provinces affected are British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Since 2015, the federal government reports that more than $188 million has been deducted from Canada Health Transfer payments for non-compliance with the Canada Health Act.

Duclos says he will clarify in an interpretation of the Canada Health Act that, no matter where in the country Canadians live or how they receive medically necessary care, they must be able to access these services without paying for it out of pocket.

On February 27, 2023, the Government of Alberta signed an agreement in principle with Ottawa on healthcare funding. One of the provisions of the deal was an immediate, one-time top-up of $233 million in health transfers.

READ MORE: Alberta signs $24B, 10-year health-care funding deal with Ottawa