The Canadian Medical Association is calling on the federal government to invest another $21 billion over the next decade to help provinces and territories pay for rising healthcare costs propelled by the aging population. Physicians want Ottawa to provide growing annual top-ups to the existing federal healthcare transfer program. The document comes ahead of the annual premiers' Council of the Federation meeting. The Trudeau government is also about to shuffle its cabinet, and there's a possibility Ottawa will name a minister dedicated to seniors. Numbers in the report show why there's a big focus on the aging demographic, revealing that:
- The proportion of seniors in Canada will rise to 21% over the next decade from its current level of 16.9 %;
- The healthcare costs for the average senior are about $12,000 per year, compared to $2,700 for everyone else;
- Federal health transfers account for about 22% of all publicly funded health care.
- The authors project the federal transfer to grow by 3.6% per year over the coming decade, while healthcare costs are expected to rise 5.1% annually.
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Il faudra des fonds du fédéral pour répondre aux besoins des aînés en soins de santé, rappelle l'AMC aux premiers ministres des provinces et territoires - Association médicale canadienne