Canada Health Act clarity a positive step to improve equitable access to care: CMA

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2025 /CNW/ - The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) welcomes the clarity that the federal government brought today to the Canada Health Act and agrees that all primary care medically necessary services should be publicly funded within a team-based approach.

The CMA conducted an extensive, nationwide consultation in 2024 on health system funding, hearing from more than 10,000 physicians, patients and key health care stakeholders. Through these discussions, a consensus emerged that medically necessary care should be based on patients' needs and not on their ability to pay.

Our focus must be on ensuring that all Canadians have equitable access to high quality health care. Today, 6.5 million people do not have regular access to a primary care provider. Emergency departments are routinely overwhelmed and under-resourced. Surgical backlogs are commonplace.

We must work together to increase capacity in the health system to ensure that patients receive the care they need in a timely fashion and that health care providers can work together in a team-based environment.

We are pleased with the direction that the federal government has provided regarding the Canada Health Act, and we urge governments to eliminate any ambiguity that allows for fees to be passed onto patients, full stop.

The CMA encourages similar clarification on the provision of virtual care services, and we remain available to work with policymakers on this issue and other solutions to improve access to primary care.

Dr. Joss Reimer
CMA President

SOURCE Canadian Medical Association