Finance committee  That's not currently available under the Canada Health Act. It was during the first three years that the Canada Health Act was in effect from 1984 to 1987. The act was brought in specifically to eliminate patient charges, and provinces were given three years to do so because they

Finance committee  It just starts with the 2017-18 fiscal year and, as deductions are normally taken in March, the ones that were taken in March of 2018 will be the first ones eligible to be refunded should a province come into conformance.

Finance committee  In March, there were deductions taken from two provinces totalling $26 million.

Finance committee  It all depends on whether there are patient charges in the provinces or not. If there are, yes, then deductions are taken. If there are no patient charges in any of the jurisdictions, then there are no deductions.

Finance committee  That's right, and as I said, it's to provide a positive incentive in addition to the negative incentive of having the deduction in the first place.

Finance committee  It's not for any particular reimbursement. Under the Canada Health Act, deductions can be made to a province or territory if they permit extra billing or user charges within their jurisdiction. In that case, the minister of health is obligated to take a mandatory penalty equal to

Finance committee  There shouldn't be, no.

Finance committee  You're correct. The government already has the ability to reduce or withhold monies under the Canada health transfer—what we refer to as “deductions” against a province. This is to allow that money to be refunded to the province after it has taken action to eliminate the problem