Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, we are not targeting this and we have said this is not a cost-cutting measure. It is a sustainability issue, Mr. Speaker. Each department has a certain amount of money and we have a situation where we have a program that is mandated, that’s not legislated, it’s not core service. We do want to help people. We do want to help the seniors. We do want to help the low income people. We do want to help those with high costs of drugs. But we are asking -- and we have a very, very generous program -- we are asking for those people who can access insurance elsewhere or who have an income...

Mr. Speaker, I think the better way for me to provide the information that she is looking for is if she could give me the questions.

Mr. Speaker, we looked at the premiums. We looked at the deductibles, using the deductibles. We looked at different income models. I know the general public out there want to know what analysis have you done to do universal versus charging cold payment. Mr. Speaker, we have done that. If the Member wants to have that information, I would be happy to provide that to her. Thank you.

Thank you. Obviously government and the House hears the people and we make decisions and take actions according to what we heard and in the interest of all the people that we serve. I think we’ve had much discussion about that already. I need to answer MLA Ramsay’s question...and I just lost my thought. Sorry, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. We do have time to agree on things. Requiring people to get third-party, we could make that as part of the program and we can do that right now and you don’t have to study that for a year or two months.

Mr. Speaker, the Member asked does this take into consideration those who will drop out of third-party. Not in specific dollars, but neither does it include people now because their income is higher or because they have other third-party options that they could use that and the savings that the government would get if that had happened. So, Mr. Speaker, no, it doesn’t, and when you...

Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, the government has presented the latest proposal. We are meeting with the committee. I was advised that we will have more meetings on that. If there are specific issues that we could work on to improve what we have, we still have time to do that, Mr. Speaker.

I just want to note that, in the NWT, I know we could always come up with the outliers, but on average in the Northwest Territories claims are about 2,816 claims are less than $5,000, 195 claims are a little over $5,000 and about 86 are less than $10,000. So, yes, we could always look at outliers and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact of the matter is we are trying to develop a program that addresses some of the deficiencies in the existing program, as I have laid out in response to MLA Groenewegen’s question. We have gone out and consulted. We have done analysis. I do understand that there are very differing views out there about how we should provide this program, to what extent, to whom and who should pay for that. So who should pay for that and how we should pay for that and such. So we have listened to those and we have analysed them and we have shared that with the committee. I...

Thank you. The point is that we have a program that is for extended health benefits; it’s not for core health. It is one where people can get access elsewhere, which is not what you can say about lots of programs. People can’t get education elsewhere, public school or lots of things the government must offer. I know it’s hard to accept, but Extended Health Benefits is an extended health benefit and we are having to ask people who can get that access, who can afford it to do that. Those who have decided not to have insurance, we could go and buy insurance at any time. Of course, government will...

Mr. Speaker, this Extended Health Benefits Program is not new. It’s something that every government grapples with. We’re not inventing a new wheel here. We look at what is available across the country. We looked at what’s the use of it.

Mr. Speaker, we have a proposal before us that would cover the vast majority of seniors, the vast majority of the population who need support from us. We are asking that those of us, and that includes me and many other people who are going to be seniors one day and who hope to be financially better off, that we make our contribution so that we help those seniors...

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated already, I will be tabling a document later today that speaks to what we have heard. Mr. Speaker, there are people who are writing to us and telling us that, and even the Members here have said that we do need to find a way to bring in the people who are excluded. We are having disagreements about how we do that. I appreciate that. There are people who say, go universal, make this part of core service. We have a challenge to that as a government.

If I had all the money in the world, I would like to make everybody happy and pay for all the medication, equipment and no...

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to tell the Member I have an answer for that. They have 90 days to reinstate the insurance at any time from any time. They could reinstate it, but right now we have a program that they don’t have to. They could ask for it now. They could reinstate it now and it will be...