Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister for Health and Social Services. As other Members have said today and as the general public may be aware, recently the Minister published the policy titled Supplementary Health Benefits Policy, dated September of 2007. It’s become crystal clear that the implementation of any changes to the Extended Health Benefits Program as the Minister is proposing can only be done through means testing, something which was not crystal clear before. I feel the Minister has led us down, and the public down, the garden path for about a year and a half. She has studiously avoided telling us that the motion that was passed a year ago or so would have no effect, there would be no blank slate, no adequate consideration of alternatives. So I’d like to ask the Minister why did she not communicate the content or the intent of this policy to the Standing Committee on Social Programs and to the general public last February or March when the motion was debated. Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, my understanding was that Cabinet documents were not to be made public. I have learned since that this policy was already signed. It is not a paper under discussion in Cabinet, so it was able to be released. Secondly, I’m hearing here, and Members outside, that somehow, I just have to say that, Mr. Speaker, we have been open-minded about this policy. I had this policy in front of me, I wanted to look at whether or not what is being proposed is fair and equitable and we believe that the newest changes that we are suggesting would be generous. It would cover a vast majority of people. Mr. Speaker, the income test is one that was included in the policy and we looked at that to see how fair and equitable that is and on the basis of analysis and the review we have done, we believe under the circumstances for non-insured health benefits -- remember this is not an insured service, this is not a universal service, this is not a legislative service -- for a program of supplementary health benefits we believe that this is the fairest way to implement this policy. Thank you.
I find it hard to believe that after three years in Cabinet the Minister didn’t realize that policies could be publicized. But there we are. It is what it is. I did note that the Minister mentioned fair and equitable two or three times in her response. I’d like to mention to the Minister that on March 24th of this year the Minister stated in a statement that the existing program is exclusive, unfair and inequitable. I’d like to know from the Minister how she considers that the proposed changes, which will put financial hardship on only some of our NWT residents, is going to make the new program inclusive, fair and equitable.
The existing program is exclusive, unfair, and it does not address the needs of vulnerable people because we have no provision under the Supplementary Health Benefits to provide for those whose income is too high to qualify under indigent supplementary health benefits programs but too low to be able to buy some of the health benefits that they require, and they’re not old enough to qualify under seniors benefits. The new proposed package is much more fair and equitable because it opens access to supplementary health to everyone, 100 percent of non-aboriginal people.
The Member says somebody is going to suffer financial hardship. Our income threshold is so high that it would be... Everyone, even at $200,000-plus, you would still get 45 percent coverage. I have to tell you, there is no other program in the country that will provide supplementary health benefits to those with an income over $200,000. In any other jurisdiction if your income is $200,000, you cannot access anything like that with the government. That’s why our program is fair.
I’d like to thank the Minister for a lesson on information that I already know. I’d like to also state that we’re not in other parts of the country. We’re in the NWT and we have a policy which currently works in most cases. I agree totally that we need to cover the people who are not currently covered, but what we are doing is solving one problem and creating another. I need to discuss with the Minister some of the examples that my constituents have given to me of how they are going to be in financial hardship based on the information that we currently have. I don’t gather that it’s changing very much.
I’d like to quote again from a document which the department had on their website. It was entitled “A Conversation with Northerners” and on page 15 of that document, 8(a) states that all families should have fair and equal access. From that statement I’d like to suggest that the department and the Minister carefully omitted to say all aboriginal families will have fair and equal access. This is a very divisive policy and it’s been stated by some of my colleagues earlier.
I’d like to ask the Minister how having these changes only apply to non-aboriginal peoples will make this new program fair and provide equal access.
I am going to do my best to answer questions, but I hope she won’t tell me I’m telling her something she already knows. As I stated already, the supplementary health program right now excludes a segment of the population that needs help from the government. Those are the low income working families who need help and work in jobs that don’t have employer insurance or whatever. It is, I believe, our government’s responsibility to provide assistance for that. I hear from others, cover them anyway, bring extra money, do it by universal health care, just spend the money.
The point is this is not a part of Canada health care. This is not a legislated health care. In the rest of the country it is something that you have to pay out of your own pocket. We are suggesting that we make this program available to everybody, everyone has access, no one will be without. But your condition of access will not be determined by your age or your medical condition or anything. It will be dependent on your ability to pay. I do not know of anything else that’s more fair than to look at one’s ability to pay to get extra help.
The Member objects to the fact that this is going to be available to all non-aboriginals. That’s why it’s fair. Before that it was not available to all non-aboriginals. There were a whole bunch of non-aboriginals who need it the most who were excluded from it. I believe that is a fair thing to do.
Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister I agree with that philosophy and I said that. But there are other alternatives. There are other alternatives which are out there that are not being considered. That’s because the policy is not being opened to change. That’s what’s required.
As to the fairness if what is being implemented applies to all residents of the NWT, this policy implementation will not be inclusive, it will not be fair, it will not be equitable, because it does not apply to all of our residents. It applies to a portion of our residents.
I want to ask the Minister why she is not willing to consider revisions to the policy to make it fair and equitable.
My position is that it is fair and equitable because it gives access to all non-aboriginal people. It uses a criteria being used all around the world and all across the country, in determining a government social program. This is to be a safety net. We are going to give benefits to seniors. We’re going to give benefits to those with chronic conditions. We’ll be able to expand services to single moms, young university students. We’re going to be opening the program to everybody.
The program that we have now is not a program... We already have a separate program for Metis and NIHB for the treaty people. The program we have now excludes a bunch of non-aboriginal people. The government feels it is important that we bring them on and we bring it in a most fair way.
The Member and everybody else says there are other alternatives. I’m interested in hearing them. I’ve already said universality is not usually the criteria used for supplementary health programs.
The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
