Doer has frequently argued in favour of Canada's public health system. He criticized Alberta's plan to introduce more private health provisions in 2002, and defended the public system as efficient and less expensive. In the same year, he endorsed Roy Romanow's assessment that the federal government must play a stronger role in health care to prevent more encroachments by the private system. At a presentation before the Romanow Commission in 2002, Doer called for the federal government to double its health care commitment. Two years later, he played a significant role in negotiations that saw the federal government contribute $18 billion in new funding to the provinces over six years.