Debates of October 30, 2024 (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm using my colleague from Mackenzie Delta's microphone; he's been very gracious.

Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister of Health and Social Services doing to clearly communicate to EHB applicants that they have payment plan options? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've communicated this in different ways. So the application web page has information about the payment plan options under the EHB menu system. This is new. As this came about, as the changes started rolling out, we realized that -- you know, that some people were asking these questions so we started to make things available. We also have a series of EHB Facebook posts, if people are on social media. There are changes made to the introductory letter that are being sent, that are those that are being accepted into the program which does -- is going to be stating that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what benchmark does the Minister of Health and Social Services need to see demonstrated that the band cutoff as currently working is appropriate, and how is this monitored? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, additionally, when the rollout of the program, we made a -- we made changes on, you know, when Regular Members had, you know, raised issues with this and rolling it out. So what we did do is we waived from September 3rd, 2024, to August 31st, 2025, the deductible for the first ten income bands to be able to determine what the annual costs, so those Members that fell within that band two to ten, so they could determine what their actual costs are for the year, and then they were aware of what their deductible would be coming up for September 1st, 2025. As for how we're monitoring that, you know, we are only into it two months now, I think just over seven weeks. So what -- we will be monitoring the program, collecting the data on number of applications received, number of approved applicants, and distribution of applications across the income bands. We don't have any claims data, but this will also become part of the information analyzed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm just frantically writing here.

Mr. Speaker, EHB was touted as a way to address cost savings by putting some costs back to those who could afford to pay a portion of their medical necessities. Can the Minister explain what cost savings we are anticipating based out on the rollout of this program extrapolating on the data collected to date over the last seven weeks, I guess. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we have less than two months of data so the information on that work is expected to take place after we have a year. That was the commitment, you know, that we would look at all of the data after a year of running the program. But our expectations of saving is geared towards the sustainability of the program. So as residents are sharing the cost of the benefits, total program cost to the government are offset which will help sustain the new program. It's also important to note that more people are now eligible for EHB than previously. As the costs of drugs and medical equipment were increased, residents' contributions will help to offset those. But we will continue to work to sustain the benefit program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what I'm hearing is we'll understand the data after a year but we'll make changes after a year. It's a little unclear, but I'm happy to talk to the Minister further.

Can the Minister explain how we are saving money of the administration of the -- if the administration of the EHB program has been exported to Alberta Blue Cross? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.