Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to healthcare services received by individuals incarcerated with Correctional Service Canada: (a) what is, broken down by province and territory, the median and average wait time between (i) receiving a referral from a general practitioner or another medical professional and a consultation with a specialist, (ii) receiving a consultation with a specialist and receiving treatment; and (b) what is the breakdown by year of temporary absence permits issued for medical purposes, for each of the last five years, and what are the details of these permits, including the (i) number of permits issued at each correctional institution, (ii) number of visits to each medical facility, (iii) the reason, purpose or type of treatment, associated with the visits?

With regard to study permit holders and the healthcare system in Canada, since January 2016: (a) what analysis or studies has the government conducted to examine the costs of those in Canada holding a study permit to our healthcare system, broken down by year the study was done; (b) what were the findings of each analysis or study in (a); (c) what is the government's estimate of the total cost incurred on Canada's healthcare system for providing healthcare to persons holding a study permit, broken down by (i) year, (ii) total cost incurred; (d) what is the government's estimate of the total number of visits to Canadian emergency room hospitals by persons holding a study permit in total and broken down by year; and (e) what is the government's estimate of the impact on wait times to see a doctor or specialist at Canadian emergency room hospitals and healthcare clinics due to the number of persons holding a study permit, broken down by (i) year, (ii) average increase in wait?

With regard to federal health funding and medical assistance in dying: (a) how much federal funding has been allocated annually since 2016 to expand palliative care services, in total, and broken down by province or territory; (b) how much federal funding has been allocated annually since 2016 to administer or support medical assistance in dying; (c) what measures has the government taken to track the number of medical assistance in dying requests where the applicant cited lack of access to mental health care, palliative care, or disability supports as a motivating factor; (d) how has the government evaluated whether insufficient access to care is driving vulnerable Canadians toward medical assistance in dying rather than recovery-oriented supports; (e) what tangible steps, with dollar figures, has the government taken to ensure that access to adequate mental health treatment, including timely psychiatric care, counselling, and community supports, is guaranteed for Canadians before medical assistance in dying is considered as an option; and (f) what measures has the government taken to track the number of medical assistance in dying requests where the applicant cited lack of access to mental health care, palliative care, or disability supports as a motivating factor?

With regard to the commitment in the 2025 budget related to $5 billion in funding over three years for a Health Infrastructure Fund: (a) what is the administrative structure of the fund, and is this fund to be managed independently from ministerial intervention; (b) how are the funds to be allocated and to whom; (c) is the fund to be allocated by direct application to the federal government or to a management or administrative agency; (d) is there provincial input, oversight, or decision-making on the fund, and, if so, how; (e) will municipalities, regional governments, health or hospital corporations or authorities be able to apply to the fund, and what will the parameters for funding include; (f) will there be a requirement for matching or independently allocated funds to qualify for funding, and, if so, what will those requirements be; and (g) when will the fund be officially launched to enable applications for access to funds?

With regard to the Interim Federal Health Program: (a) what are the projected gross savings of the Interim Federal Health Program co-payment model for 2026–27 and 2027–28, broken down by benefit category (prescription, dental, vision, counselling, devices, etc.); (b) what are the projected administrative costs (including information technology services, system changes, provider communications, call centres, dispute resolution, payment reconciliation and auditing services) of the program for 2026–27 and 2027–28, broken down by fiscal year, and what are the projected net savings after administrative costs; (c) what share of net savings is expected to come from beneficiary payments versus reduced utilization or foregone services; (d) what assumptions has the government made to produce the savings estimate in (c), including the assumed percentage change in prescription fills (by drug class, dental claims, vision claims, counselling claims, assistive device claims and collection failure or non-payment rates), and what evidence did the government rely on for each assumption; (e) what is the projected distribution of co-payment amounts paid per beneficiary ($0, $1–10, $11–25, $26–50, $51–100, $101+, per month), broken down by beneficiary class and province or territory; (f) what are the details of the monthly claims data for the 24 months preceding May 1, 2026, broken down by province or territory and beneficiary class, including the (i) number and value of claims, broken down by benefit category, (ii) number of prescriptions adjudicated and paid, broken down by drug class, (iii) provider participation counts, broken down by provider type (pharmacy, dentist, counsellor, etc.), (iv) denial or rejection rates, broken down by reason; (g) what analysis, including any sensitivity analyses, has Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada conducted to estimate the incremental costs to provincial and territorial systems arising from Interim Federal Health Program co-payments, and what are the details, including the (i) additional costs associated with emergency department visits, hospitalizations, ambulance use and complications from delayed dental and mental health care, (ii) additional costs associated with medications and services used for prevention and treatment of communicable diseases (including tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections), (iii) downstream public health costs (including transmission and outbreak response); (h) how did the government come up with the analyses in (g), and what are the details, including (i) the chosen methodology, (ii) the chosen parameters, (iii) the results, (iv) whether co-payments apply; (i) do co-payments, effective May 1, 2026, apply to resettled refugees, including government-assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees, and, if so, (i) what is the projected number of Interim Federal Health Program beneficiaries affected in 2026–27, broken down by immigration category and province or territory, (ii) what Charter or compliance analyses were conducted, if any, (iii) what are the estimated costs associated with implementation and potential rollback; (j) for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years, what share of projected beneficiary co-payments is expected to be paid by the top 10% of payers, broken down by beneficiary class and province or territory; (k) for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years, how many beneficiaries are projected to require (i) three or more, (ii) five or more, (iii) 10 or more, prescriptions per month, broken down by age group and beneficiary class; (l) what is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s projected provider attrition rate attributable to co-payment collection requirements, broken down by provider type and province or territory; (m) what guidance is issued when a beneficiary cannot pay at point of service, including whether care may proceed and any escalation procedures; (n) what mechanisms exist to record “service refused due to inability to pay,” and what reporting will be required; (o) how is the government coordinating with provincial and territorial plans for government-assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees, and what are the details, including the (i) average, (ii) distribution, of time from arrival to eligibility for provincial health coverage and drug plans, broken down by province or territory; (p) how many Interim Federal Health Program beneficiaries are projected to be eligible for the Canada Dental Care Plan during 2026–27, and what measures exist to prevent duplication of coverage or coverage gaps; (q) what modelling exists on cost shifting between the Interim Federal Health Program, provincial pharmacare and youth drug programs; (r) what are the projected reductions in Interim Federal Health Program costs under scenarios where Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada processing times are reduced by 25%, 50%, 75%, (or to specified service standards), and what is (i) the projected cost of additional Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada capacity required for each of the above scenarios, (ii) the net fiscal impact of backlog reduction scenarios versus co-payment savings; (s) what indicators will Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada track (or model) regarding changes in workforce participation attributable to reduced access to medication, vision care, assistive devices, and mental health services; (t) did Employment and Social Development Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, or Finance Canada do intergovernmental analysis on the impacts in (s), and, if so, what were the findings; and (u) what modelling exists on increased disability-related costs arising from foregone supplemental care?

With regard to the "Statement from the Minister of Health on the Canada Health Act" issued on January 10, 2025, and described as coming into effect on April 1, 2026: (a) will this policy come into effect as of April 1, 2026, or has it been delayed, amended, or rescinded under the current government; (b) as of April 1, 2026, will a nurse practitioner who operates an independent primary care practice that is not covered by a patient's provincial or territorial health care plan be permitted to continue providing medically necessary physician-equivalent services, or will all such physician-equivalent services be required to be publicly insured and billed through the provincial or territorial health insurance plan with no direct charges to patients; and (c) how will the changes which come into effect on April 1, 2026, impact the federal delivery of healthcare for Indigenous and First Nations individuals?