Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said he is "very optimistic" a deal to boost healthcare transfers to the province can be made, as "there's been a change of tone, a change of direction in the last few weeks."."There's been a great deal of progress. We need to secure investments so we can maintain the publicly funded and equitable and accessible health-care system," Duclos (Quebec, QC) said during a Friday press conference..For several months, Canada's 13 premiers have been demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet with them to finalize the deals of an agreement to increase the Canada Health Transfer (CHT). If the federal government agrees to the provinces' demands, the value of the CHT would increase from $28 billion to $45.2 billion per year..When asked if the federal government would agree to the provinces' demand Ottawa increase its share of all healthcare spending from 22% to 35%, Duclos said there will be "additional amounts" to spur "additional results.".Duclos said he wouldn't comment on the exact dollar amount of the agreement, as the federal government does not want to negotiate in public. But he said any new money given to the provinces would be used to fix long-term, structural issues, and not be spent on short-term problems..Trudeau previously said there's no point putting more money into a "broken" healthcare system.."If I were to send people all the money they need in the provinces, there is no guarantee those folks would be waiting less time in the hospitals," Trudeau said in an interview with the CBC..The premiers are looking to sit down with Trudeau in mid-February, while sources claimed Trudeau likely won't meet with the premiers until a healthcare deal is almost complete..During the same press conference, Canada's chief public health officer continued pushing for Canadians to get their COVID-19 booster shots.."Like the winter weather, it can be difficult to predict exactly what we're going to see next, but we do know it's too early to put away our winter coats and boots," Theresa Tam said.."Similarly, it's still too early to stop taking the personal protective measures that have helped us weather the COVID storm.".Federal data shows while most people 12 years and older completed their primary series, the number of Canadians eligible for a booster dose who received one in the past six months dropped for most age groups. ."We still have a ways to go, even for the 65-plus population," Tam said..Tam also warned officials are seeing an increase in cases of the XBB1.5 Omicron subvariant of COVID-19. But she said the absolute number of COVID-19 cases is not surging, "nor is there evidence of increased severity with this or other new variants."
