Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some significant concerns with the current proposal to change extended healthcare benefits. So my first question to the Minister of health is we've gone out, we've engaged; can the Minister just update this House what the next steps are on this plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to start by thanking the 729 people who provided input into the public engagement process on the supplementary health benefits. That feedback was aggregated into themes and released as a report on January the 23rd. Using the information gathered, the departmental staff are writing a new policy. In fact, we didn't consult on a policy. We consulted on an issue. So they are writing a new policy, and it will go through the standard process of being presented to Cabinet and to the Regular Members, the Standing Committee on Social Development. So that will happen in this not in this sitting but through the spring. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it was quite clear in that public engagement that lots of people were very concerned about the proposal to remove the specified conditions. Can the Minister confirm whether the plan is to draft that new policy that will, in fact, remove those specified conditions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the point of revising this policy was to make it more equitable and to bring people into coverage who currently don't have any third-party insurance. That's approximately 2,200 people. And so we can't have an equitable benefits program if you have to have a specific disease in order to qualify for that program. There are 34 conditions on that list. So, for example, if you have ALS, you're not covered, and that puts the people who don't have coverage in a very awkward position to buy the medication and, especially for ALS, the medical equipment and appliances that they require to live their lives. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then I think the answer there is to add ALS to the list. I don't understand why this is being posed as a binary that we on one hand want to have a meanstested program for low income people who are you know, inherently don't have these conditions because they would be covered so are likely healthy people, and on the other hand people who are existing with a specified disease condition and putting their current treatment at risk. Is it not possible for the Minister to put forward a new policy that keeps the current approach and as a meanstested approach? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, people who are currently receiving support for their specified conditions will continue to receive that support. The change here is that the program proposal that was in the discussion paper is to have income testing in order to figure out what level of support the person themselves might be able to afford towards the total cost. We use income testing for everything. You need income testing for income assistance. You need income testing for housing. You need income testing for the seniors fuel subsidy. We're looking at income testing. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we don't use income testing for anything in public healthcare. And if you show up to the doctor, it doesn't matter how much money you make; you get services provided if you are sick. And that is exactly what we were trying to do with people who had these specified disease conditions. And my concern, Mr. Speaker, is we're now asking people to go out and try and find third-party insurance when they have diseases which makes it very difficult to get third-party insurance. We're asking people to put their coverage at risk, and it is causing them a lot of stress and, in fact, not helping the health of our residents. My preference here is that we don't do this at all. But I'm wondering if one option is that we could grandfather people who are currently under this program so that their coverage is not at risk. I'll note it's much easier to ask a person who doesn't have one of these diseases to go out and get insurance health insurance than it is to ask one of these people who currently do. Is it possible to grandfather these people into their medication programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I fear that the Member is muddying the waters here, and that's a cause of anxiety. The principles of the Canadian health system is that everybody receives hospital and doctor care in a single-payer system. We are committed to that system. The whole country is committed to that system. Nothing about that is going to change. There are, however, related services like pharmaceuticals that are subject to different programs. So we're not asking anyone to be income tested to show up at the ER. But we are looking at income testing in order to make access to drugs equitable. And I think the Member is making a huge mistake in assuming that the people who are not covered now by any form of insurance are healthy and they don't need it. That's not my experience of low-income people. They usually have worse than average health outcomes. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
