Is our Government planning to punish our Seniors?

There is no better way to say it. The Alberta Government in their finite wisdom is planning to punish the very people we should be heaping much earned respect on, the senior citizens of this great province. Apparently, those we elect to government must believe that they will never grow old!

In December of 2008, Hon. Ron Liepert, our Minister of Health and Wellness unveiled his new Pharmaceutical Strategy. This document is an ill-conceived, discriminatory plan to tax the senior, transfer financial burden, remove universality of the Canada Health Act and create appalling side effects for many Alberta Seniors. His plan will remove the premium-free Blue Cross plan for all Senior Citizens who earn $21,326 or more per year, which is a measly earnings of under $1,800 per month.

It sounds like these very much-earned Blue Cross benefits will only apply for people who are dependant on a senior’s home or long-term care facility. I wonder if Mr. Liepert has ever had to live on this income considering that his pension package will far exceed any income of the average senior not at this poverty level.

I don’t want to mince words, so lets take a look at what this document will mean for the independent Senior and those soon to be.

Mr. Leipert's plan violates the universality principles of the Canada Health Act in that all health care benefits should be made available to everyone on the basis of need, regardless of their ability to pay, or age.

It will also transfer the cost of a much-needed social benefit directly onto an identifiable group of people, those over the age 65. What was once a cost shared program by all income earners of Alberta, the cost will be shifted directly on the senior citizen. This is nothing less than an additional tax on those people 65 years old and over!

Worse yet, it is a practice, if not a physical fact that as we get older we tend to need the services of a doctor. These visits to clinics in more cases than not, result in a drug prescription filled. Could it be that the politicians in government are finding a way of courting the young voters by making it possible to reduce taxes for those under 65?

The Alberta tax policy states that income should be taxed at a maximum flat rate of 10%. Under this plan the senior may be taxed at a rate of 17% for those seniors that are not impoverished! Should not income disparity be addressed through our taxation system and not the healthcare system?

Leipert’s plan comes into effect at a time when the rest of Canada is in a recession and if things keep going the same way, Alberta may see our growth below 1%. This has already caused many seniors to tighten their belts and they have made plans based on having certain historical benefits at their disposal. By removing the Blue Cross benefit it will create an even greater burden to the Alberta Senior!

One of the side effects is that this plan will create a possible personal information protection leakage, since it imposes a statutory requirement to monitor benefit eligibility. People like bureaucrats and pharmacists will need to have more of our personal information. The security of this information in the internet age cannot be guaranteed. The mechanisms required in securing this information, the policies required to implements these changes might be costly for government. Since the pharmacists will need to access some of our personal information to know when government coverage commences, it makes one wonder how secure our personal data will be. It further puts an onus on the pharmacist to protect this information.

In spite of all these concerns that I have voiced, the last thing is that this plan is discriminatory. Health Care benefits should be available equally to all sectors of society. The government should not be in the practice to denying benefits to anyone based on race, gender or age. Profiling health care coverage in any form based on need, and risk management is unacceptable. It sounds like the government wants to appear to have universal health coverage, without having to actually deliver.

This plan does not go into effect until January 1st of 2010. If decreased health benefits for seniors is as much as concern for you as it is for me, I would urge the people of this province to start a letter writing campaign, call the MLA office nearest you and log your concerns. You can start by calling the RITE government phone number at 780-310-0000.