yyctimes

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Calgary Flames unveil first-ever Pride jersey – Calgary

    March 28, 2023

    Canadian Pacific train derails in rural North Dakota, spilling hazardous chemicals

    March 28, 2023

    What Calgary advocates and businesses want in the 2023 federal budget

    March 28, 2023
    • Home
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Twitter
    yyctimes
    yyctimes
    Home » Braid: What’s really behind Smith’s health spending accounts
    yyctimes

    Braid: What’s really behind Smith’s health spending accounts

    yyctimesBy yyctimesNovember 21, 2022No Comments6 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram Pinterest Tumblr Reddit Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Breadcrumb Trail Links

    1. Politics
    2. Opinion
    3. News
    4. Local news
    5. Columnists

    This prime minister has been a professional talker for so long that we often know what she really wants, which may be very different from what she says now

    Author of the article:

    Don Braid • Calgary Herald

    Publication date:

    21 Nov 2022 • 26 minutes ago • 3 minutes reading

    Join the conversation

    Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon on November 18.
    Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon on November 18. Jim Wells/Postmedia

    Article content

    Premier Danielle Smith lit a lot of fires in her media days. Now she’s trying to stamp one out with her apparent pushback on health spending bills.

    Advertisement 2

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Article content

    First, she said people would use these bills to pay for their GP visits. The government would give them an initial payment of $375, presumably to everyone who has an Alberta Health card.

    Calgary Herald Headline News Banner

    Sign up to receive daily news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

    By clicking the sign up button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

    Thanks for subscribing!

    A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.

    The next issue of Calgary Herald Headline News will be in your inbox soon.

    We encountered a problem signing you in. Please try again

    Article content

    But Smith went much further than that. She even suggested that the private accounts would eventually be the ONLY way GPs would be paid.

    “My view is that the entire budget for family practitioners should be paid for out of health care savings accounts,” she said in June 2021 in a paper written for the University of Calgary’s school of public policy.

    “If the government funded the bill at $375 a year, that’s the equivalent of 10 trips to a GP, so there can be no argument that it would impair access based on ability to pay.”

    Advertisement 3

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Article content

    Well, sorry, there is an argument. Many people need much more care in times of serious illness. The accounts would also discriminate against people with lower incomes who do not have the means to add their own funds to the account.

    One GP called the plan “short-sighted and knee-jerk, without proper consideration of the wide range of concerns that a GP has to deal with.”

    Smith suggested Albertans put their own money on top of the government’s $375, get their employers to chip in even more, and even fundraise for their personal accounts.

    Advertisement 4

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Article content

    She threw out these ideas before anyone dreamed she would become prime minister. But she is still pushing the bills in her mandate letter to Health Secretary Jason Copping, ordering him to “work to produce bills for health spending.”

    The prime minister now says people can only use their accounts for services not covered by public health insurance. Physiotherapy, medication, whatever.

    An excerpt from Premier Danielle Smith's paper in the U of C School of Public Policy.
    An excerpt from Premier Danielle Smith’s paper in the U of C School of Public Policy.

    There is no longer talk of doctor visits being part of the plan. She has NDP Leader Rachel Notley twist the truth while Notley pretty much points out what Smith himself said.

    This prime minister has been a professional talker for so long that we often know what she really wants, which may be quite different from what she says now.

    And the purpose of these savings accounts is to groom the public for widespread private payment. It’s clear from her own words.

    Advertisement 5

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Article content

    Smith said in the U of C paper, “Once people get used to the concept of paying out of pocket for more things, then we can change the conversation about health care.”

    She argued that the system should “shift the burden of payment away from taxpayers and onto private individuals, their employers and their insurance companies.”

    Even more surprisingly, Smith calls for a “proper” overall health insurance system with deductibles or co-pays.

    “If we establish the principle of Health Spending Accounts, we can also establish co-payments,” she wrote.

    “I can also guarantee you that if the government creates this structure, business and non-profit enterprises will increase.

    “Employers will make matching contributions to Health Spending Accounts. Non-profit organizations will be established to make charitable contributions to the Health Spending Accounts of low-income earners so they can get a broader range of health services.

    Advertisement 6

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Article content

    “Because that is the character of Albertans. We take care of each other. That’s what we do.”

    In my experience, Albertans have always demanded a better system, but never one that makes them pay out of pocket.

    Premier Danielle Smith celebrates her by-election victory in Medicine Hat on November 8.
    Premier Danielle Smith celebrates her by-election victory in Medicine Hat on November 8. Photo by Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

    Smith is playing with political explosives far more dangerous than what former premier Ralph Klein detonated in 2005 when he introduced the Third Way, a plan that would have allowed people to pay for upgraded surgeries and jump rope.

    The uproar was so furious that Klein had to abandon the plan, but not before throwing a liberal health policy document at a teenage lawmaker sheet and yelling “I don’t need that shit!”

    Smith’s larger plans would inevitably violate the Canada Health Act. A single public payment system is at the heart of the Act. Because Alberta complies, Ottawa will deliver $5.3 billion to the province this year, 21.5 percent of the health care budget.

    Smith now says anything she does will comply with federal law. But she constantly voices opposition to many federal policies and actions, asserting the right to overturn them.

    This begs the question: would she use her looming Sovereignty Act for health care?

    Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.

    Twitter: @DonBraid

    Share this article in your social network

    Advertisement 1

    This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

    Commentary

    Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their opinions on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. We ask that you keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications—you’ll now receive an email when you receive a reply to your comment, there’s an update to a comment thread you follow, or when a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.



    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    yyctimes
    • Website

    Related Posts

    What Calgary advocates and businesses want in the 2023 federal budget

    March 28, 2023

    Hearing underway in connection with killing at Sundre McDonald’s

    March 28, 2023

    Photographer describes equipment being ruined by protester

    March 28, 2023

    Braid: Feds appear more collaborative, UCP credits Sovereignty Act

    March 27, 2023

    Calgary’s lone Liberal MP scorches Imperial Oil for Kearl Lake spills

    March 27, 2023

    Ten people injured after house explosion in northeast Calgary

    March 27, 2023

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Don't Miss
    yyctimes

    Calgary Flames unveil first-ever Pride jersey – Calgary

    By yyctimesMarch 28, 2023

    Pleasure Nights within the NHL have prompted controversy this season with some gamers – and…

    Canadian Pacific train derails in rural North Dakota, spilling hazardous chemicals

    March 28, 2023

    What Calgary advocates and businesses want in the 2023 federal budget

    March 28, 2023

    Bikes on CTrain pilot extended through end of 2023 – Calgary

    March 28, 2023
    Our Picks

    Calgary Flames unveil first-ever Pride jersey – Calgary

    March 28, 2023

    Canadian Pacific train derails in rural North Dakota, spilling hazardous chemicals

    March 28, 2023

    What Calgary advocates and businesses want in the 2023 federal budget

    March 28, 2023

    Bikes on CTrain pilot extended through end of 2023 – Calgary

    March 28, 2023

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

    Our Picks

    Calgary Flames unveil first-ever Pride jersey – Calgary

    March 28, 2023

    Canadian Pacific train derails in rural North Dakota, spilling hazardous chemicals

    March 28, 2023

    What Calgary advocates and businesses want in the 2023 federal budget

    March 28, 2023
    New Comments

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.