38. A New Deal on Health Care
WHEREAS Canadians place great value on Canada’s public health care system;
WHEREAS the 2004 Health Accord between the federal Liberal government and provinces and territories provided the system with stable and predictable funding for a decade.
WHEREAS the Accord created joint jurisdictional responsibility to develop goals and benchmarks for transformative change, in nine areas.
WHEREAS the Harper government walked away from those joint responsibilities and refused to meet with First Ministers, on Health, since 2006.
WHEREAS, as a result of this abdication of federal leadership, systemic reform of the health care system was unable to progress according to plan and remains primarily focused on acute hospital and physician care.
WHEREAS as a result of this abdication of federal leadership, the shift to multidisciplinary/continuing care, home care and health promotion, electronic health records, national pharmacare and disease prevention was also unable to progress according to plan.
WHEREAS this led to a continuation of systemic inefficiencies that increased costs, blocked access, and threatens the sustainability of Medicare.
BE IT RESOLVED that a Liberal government shall:
- Renegotiate a new health care agreement with provinces and territories as full partners, which would provide the jurisdictional flexibility to ensure the transformative changes needed to sustain Medicare are achieved.
- Ensure that accountability of results in this new agreement will focus on measurable outcomes including cost-effectiveness, efficiency and timely access to care.
Liberal Caucus