Nova Scotia minister warns of 'significant' impact with possible health-care money cut

Nova Scotia's health minister says the government may have to relent on its quest to have federal transfers take into consideration the health profile of the province.

Leo Glavine and his Atlantic Canada counterparts have been petitioning Ottawa to acknowledge the region has an older, sicker population with a higher rate of chronic disease, which creates higher health-care delivery costs.

He told reporters on Thursday, however, those voices may be drowned out by Quebec and Ontario provinces with much larger populations and different considerations.

Premiers demand meeting with Trudeau

Glavine and the rest of the provincial health ministers travel to Toronto next month to meet with federal officials in an attempt to finalize a new health accord. A major concern at the provincial level is the prospect of the annual increase from Ottawa six per cent being cut in half.

Although the federal Liberals campaigned against the move during the last election, since coming to power the Trudeau government has hinted it will not reverse the plan originally laid out by the Conservative government.

CBC News reported on Wednesday that premiers have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to demand a meeting on health-care funding before they meet him later this year to discuss climate change.

In the letter, the premiers say if a meeting is not possible by December, they want a promise that the increased transfers will continue for at least another year.

Funding change would be 'significant'

Glavine estimated changing the annual increase from six per cent to three would amount to "significant millions of dollars" the province would have to make up for.

The province has essentially held the line on health-care spending since the Grits came to power in 2013. Glavine said that's in part because they weren't sure what would happen with the accord negotiations.

Those efforts will help dampen the blow if the increase is halved, but "certainly it would impact on health-care delivery the province," said Glavine.

The federal government has earmarked $3 billion in targeted funding for home care, and the health minister thinks that should be separated from the annual federal transfer.

"Those are two needs that we all have across the country so, you know, what shape that will take is what we're concerned about," he said.