Sandy Lee

Mr. Speaker, the plan is that once a decision is made as to the implementation of this policy, we will be going for RFP to find a service provider such as Blue Cross or any other insurance companies. They are equipped and trained and set up to deliver a program like this. They do that for our other existing GNWT program, as well as the GNWT employee program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The fact of the matter is, we have a supplementary benefits program. The changes we are proposing are not cost-cutting measures. At the same time, we need to make sure that the costs are affordable and reasonable. What we are trying to do is we are realigning the Supplementary Health Benefits Program for non-aboriginal people. What we have now is we cover those who are over 60, and those who have a chronic condition, and those who make under $30,000. We have a group of people among non-aboriginal people who are excluded. The changes we are proposing are to bring them on stream.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The point of saying that our rates of wait time is similar to the rest of Canada, that is just showing the challenge that all jurisdictions in Canada face, and to stay similar to the rest of Canada, actually we are making really good effort on the part of all the people who are delivering those services at Stanton.

Mr. Speaker, to give the Member more information, the CEO of Stanton and other CEOs actually, because we’re working at a territorial plan together, and all of the medical directors in each health authority, Doctor Corkal at Stanton and Doctor Claude and Doctor...

On that, I agree with the Member. I need to tell the Member that this new package excludes no one.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to disagree with the Member for what he is saying, so I hope he understands that I don’t reject everything he says, as he suggests, Mr. Speaker. That is a serious issue. That is a challenge for any insurance.

What we have right now is that under seniors policy where anybody who is over 60, you are covered 100 percent on everything. So people do drop insurance already. We are going to, on their policy, encourage people to get insurance. If we know they have a job that has insurance, we are going to encourage them to keep those insurance. We are going to ask them to go...

Thank you. Why? Why do we have to do that? If the question is why, then the answer to why is because we have a group of people who need us and that is the working poor. What I’m hearing is everybody says help the working poor, cover them, what’s taking you so long. Mr. Ramsay said you’ve known for three years 2,200 people are not covered, why don’t you include them? That’s not my problem, include them, spend the money, get it from somewhere else, tax the people. Mr. Speaker, that’s easy to do and what people are telling me is you can cover the poor as long as you cover everybody else, as long...

Mr. Speaker, this supplementary health excludes nobody for the non-aboriginal people. Thank you.

The fact of the matter is the old disease and conditions list did not work, and it doesn’t work now. Every day I get a request from the Member, every other Member, I get calls from all over the Territories wanting to know why we’re not covering this, we’re not covering that, this medication, there’s a new disease that comes on that gets diagnosed, there are new drugs in the market that we’re not able to pay, we have new wheelchairs, I don’t know, the list goes on. I’m sure if I did the Hansard research I could find a statement made by the honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre who said our...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every suggestion, proposal made by the Members and the general public in our two and a half, three years of review has been reviewed, noted, considered, analyzed. Every major public announcement I have made on this policy had gone to the Cabinet, Cabinet has reviewed and approved it, and this is a Cabinet initiative as well as the Minister of Health. Thank you.