Canada Health Act. The Canada Health Act received Royal Assent on April 17, 1984, with the unanimous support of the House of Commons and the Senate. The Act, which replaced the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act (1957) and the Medical Care Act (1968), sets out the national standards that the provincial and territorial health insurance plans must meet in order to receive the full federal cash contribution under the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST). The health portion of the CHST was replaced by the Canada Health Transfer effective April 1, 2004.