| The Canada Health Act is Canada's federal health insurance
legislation.
Under the Constitution of Canada, health care is a
provincial responsibility, and the federal government is not able to take authority for health care from provincial governments.
Yet the Canada Health Act provides for federal transfer money (through the Canada Health Transfer, formerly part of the Canada Health and Social Transfer) to the
provinces for health care, and this transfer money is contingent upon the provinces meeting the five conditions of the Canada
Health Act, namely:
- Public administration,
- Comprehensiveness,
- Universality,
- Portability, and
- Accessibility
While the Canadian provinces have at various times bristled against the influence the federal government is able to exert
through this and other conditional grant programmes, the lure of "free money" to provide health care services to their citizens
has proved too much. All ten provinces currently benefit from federal health funding.
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