UPDATE: Feds will increase annual health transfer and offer targeted funding with conditions

(UPDATE: Feb. 6 @ 1:15 pm) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will offer the provinces a "significant" increase to the Canada Health Transfer and additional money if they agree to one−on−one deals targeting specific problem areas in the health−care system.

A senior government official with knowledge of the plan says Trudeau will lay out a 10−year offer when he meets with the country’s 13 premiers in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The Canadian Press agreed to grant the official anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The premiers say Ottawa contributes about 22 per cent of what the provinces spend on health care and they want that to go up to 35 per cent.

Trudeau will insist some of the increased federal cash go to specific areas including addressing worker shortages, improving data collection and reducing surgical backlogs.

The federal Liberals say Tuesday’s meeting will not result in a final deal, and that health ministers will continue to work out the details over the next several weeks.

(Original story: Feb. 6 @ 10:20 am) - Former health minister Jane Philpott says the targeted funding agreements Ottawa signed with the provinces six years ago have not transformed health care in this country like many hoped they would.

She says she has a lot of hope, but also a lot of anxiety, that new talks beginning Tuesday in Ottawa will bring both the investments and the accountability needed to fix what is ailing Canada’s health−care systems.

Philpott was the federal health minister in 2016 when the federal and provincial governments last got together to hash out a new health funding deal.

The provinces wanted a major increase to the Canada Health Transfer but Ottawa ultimately got them to agree to bilateral deals with targeted funding for mental health and home care.

Philpott says it nudged the door open to the notion of doing one−on−one deals with more accountability but it wasn’t as "transformational" as hoped or needed.

Philpott says any new deal needs to come with specific targets and a way for Ottawa to withhold funding if those targets and reporting requirements are not met.