Premier Christy Clark is calling on the federal government to cancel changes in health transfers to the provinces that she says pose a threat to seniors and patients waiting for operations.
Clark, who is to attend a first ministers meeting in Ottawa Friday, objects to the decision by the former Conservative government to cut in half the amount by which payments increase every year.
She wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to delay the change for at least a year to allow for further talks on the issue.
“Again, rushing all of these things through at the last minute is not in the best interests of Canadians,” she said. “These are long-term decisions that we’re talking about.
“Sticking to Stephen Harper’s proposal means that they would be reducing health funding for seniors in our province by about $250 million a year. That’s just not acceptable.”
The federal government is slated to reduce the annual growth rate for health transfers to the provinces to three per cent from six on April 1.
B.C. says it will receive $142 million less in 2017-18 and $285 million less the following year than under the previous formula. The province noted in its second quarterly report that $100 million represents about 5,170 hip replacements or 1,023 lung transplants.
“I don’t see the wisdom in forcing cuts in the health-care system at this moment in time,” Clark said. “I think that’s the point that all the premiers are going to make to the prime minister … on Friday.”
B.C. NDP health critic Judy Darcy agreed that reductions in federal transfer increases will have a big impact in B.C.
“Yes, they absolutely should be fighting hard, and I wish they had been doing it for several years now rather than essentially rolling over when Stephen Harper announced it,” she said.
Darcy said B.C. patients already wait too long for some procedures. She cited the recent case of a boy in New Westminster who waited 14 months for a relatively simple procedure to correct a hearing problem.
“We’re already experiencing a major crunch, and that’s before those [federal] cuts,” she said. “So the cuts will have a very serious impact; I think the government should be extremely aggressive in pressing for [changes].”
Darcy said the province should also be pushing for a national pharmacare program to save governments money and make drugs more affordable for British Columbians. “We do have a big problem in this province of people not being able to afford their prescriptions.”
