History of the Federal Role in Health Care: The federal government has a defined constitutional role in health care. Its biggest role is through what is called its “spending power” whereby the federal government sets conditions for the transfer of funds to provincial and territorial governments. This is affected through fiscal transfers, known as the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) , and through the Canada Health Act which sets out the principles that provincial health insurance plans must adhere to in order to receive federal transfers without penalty.
History of the Federal Role in Health Care: The federal government has a defined constitutional role in health care. Its biggest role is through what is called its “spending power” whereby the federal government sets conditions for the transfer of funds to provincial and territorial governments. This is affected through fiscal transfers, known as the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) , and through the Canada Health Act which sets out the principles that provincial health insurance plans must adhere to in order to receive federal transfers without penalty.