Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart says plans by Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) to explore potential user fees and premiums for health care services is going in the wrong direction.
On May 16, the seven-page public administrator's work plan was released. It detailed what NTHSSA public administrator Dan Florizone has done since he was appointed on Dec. 16, 2024, and provided a timeline for several projects.
Those included developing a proposal on how to bring services closer to small communities by November of this year, streamlining the medical travel process and establishing an employee acquisition plan by June. It also calls for a review of budgets and a survey of potential revenue sources, "including supporting the establishment of income assessment and fee collection structures, as applicable" by December.
SA国际影视传媒 reached out to NTHSSA for clarification on what fee collection structures would look like in practice.
"As part of the expenditure reduction plan, the Public Administrator has directed NTHSSA to work with the Department of Health and Social Services to review options related to user fees and health care premiums," said Krystal Pidborochynski, NTHSSA's communications and public affairs director in response. "The aim is to reduce the projected deficit while prioritizing the essential programs and services that residents, especially those in smaller regions and communities, rely on.
"The NTHSSA has a responsibility to manage its limited resources responsibly. Without an increase in funding SA国际影视传媒� including for example those provided through the Government of Canada for the Medical Travel and Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Programs SA国际影视传媒� the NTHSSA needs to make difficult decisions to ensure the long-term sustainability and health of the organization."
Testart said most people in the territory, even many well-paid government employees, are already effectively living paycheque to paycheque and adding more costs to their monthly budgets could push them to the breaking point.
Instead, he called on the GNWT to take the fight to Ottawa, particularly surrounding medical travel and NIHB, which he said the federal government should be funding.
"There's a big portion of that which isn't being covered by the federal government," he said. "So there is a role to play for Ottawa to increase the revenue. But if we're serious about that side of the issue, we should be playing hardball with the federal government and basically telling them 'If you're not going to cover these services, neither are we SA国际影视传媒� and you've got a year to sort this out.'
"The NIHB program should be funded by Ottawa and current the NWT subsidizes that program. It is a problem that needs to be solved SA国际影视传媒� we have a new government, we have a new focus on the North and a Northern prime minister, so the timing is right to have that conversation. Don't pussyfoot around, take bold action and get their attention. If you keep doing what you've been doing for the last 10 years or more, probably since the last NIHB and medical travel agreements were signed, we'll continue to wait. We don't have time to keep bleeding money when Ottawa is not keeping up with its responsibilities to Northerners and, more importantly, honouring its treaty obligations to Indigenous people in Northern Canada."
NTHSSA should be looking towards its upper management when looking for cost savings, said Testart, rather than targeting the end user for revenue. He repeated his call for higher compensation for medical staff in the NWT to cover the higher cost of living and the remote nature of the work.
He said discussions about "slaying the deficit" should take backseat to improving health care delivery, noting NTHSSA has been operating at a loss since its inception.
"We need to create an advantage up here, making people pay more for health care is not going to do that," he said. "If that means our health care system is more expensive then so be it, but right now it's expensive and its failing."
