Close X
Saturday, December 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

John McCallum, Jane Philpott Cancelling Controversial Cuts To Refugee Health Care

The Canadian Press, 19 Feb, 2016 12:21 PM
  • John McCallum, Jane Philpott Cancelling Controversial Cuts To Refugee Health Care
OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are ripping up a patchwork system of health-care coverage for newly arrived refugees and those seeking refugee status in favour of blanket coverage for all, beginning in April.
 
Starting in 2017, they'll also extend coverage to certain refugees before they even arrive in Canada, including picking up the tab for the medical exams they need to pass in order to move here.
 
"This will help refugees, it will help health-care providers, it will help Canadians," Health Minister Jane Philpott said Thursday.
 
The changes effectively reverse the previous Conservative government's 2012 overhaul of the interim federal health program, which covers health care and drug costs for refugees and refugee claimants until they can get access to provincial coverage.
 
Prior to 2012, a person's refugee status or medical condition had no bearing on what the federal government would pay for. Citing a need to save money and stop the abuse of the system, the Tories instituted a program that allocated coverage based on factors ranging from a refugee's country of origin to what conditions needed treatment.
 
Doctors reported the fallout as being everything from pregnant women denied prenatal care to children losing access to asthma medications. One group challenged the move, prompting a scathing 2014 decision from the Federal Court that the new program amounted to "cruel and unusual" treatment and put people's lives in danger. It forced the government to reinstate some, but not all of the benefits, though the Conservatives continued to appeal.
 
The system grew so complex that some doctors gave up treating refugees altogether, said Dr. Meb Rashid, a Toronto physician who was involved in the court case. At the same time, it also prevented people from seeking out care altogether, he said.
 
 
"Part of it was because people were underinsured and part of it was nobody understood the system," he said.
 
During the election campaign, the Liberals promised to restore the program in its entirety. They took the first steps by dropping the court case and granting full coverage to all the Syrian refugees who were coming to Canada as part of the Liberal resettlement program. 
 
Under the Conservative changes, only those refugees being resettled by the government directly had access to extended benefits and those with private sponsors only had limited coverage. 
 
Ottawa doctor Doug Gruner, who works with newly arrived refugees, said the changes announced by the Liberals will make a substantive difference.
 
"This is huge in the sense that now we can communicate to our colleagues — 'Look, everyone has coverage, there should be no reasons not to see refugees,' no matter what class of refugee we are talking about," he said.
 
"So that's a big thing to me — the clarity, the transparency of what this coverage entails. It means refugees are able to access doctor visits, able to actually follow through on a treatment plan."
 
Immigration Minister John McCallum said the restoring the old system will cost an additional $5.9 million a year; extending the program will cost $5.6 million beginning in 2017. But he said the money is covered by the existing budget for the program of $51 million annually.
 
In the wake of the Conservative cuts, several provinces stepped forward to pick up the tabs on their own. One of them, Ontario, estimates it spent $2 million providing the extra care.

MORE National ARTICLES

Alberta Distributes Kits To Stop Overdoses In Fight Against Illicit Fentanyl

Alberta Distributes Kits To Stop Overdoses In Fight Against Illicit Fentanyl
EDMONTON — The Alberta government is expanding its program to try to save those overdosing on illicit fentanyl.

Alberta Distributes Kits To Stop Overdoses In Fight Against Illicit Fentanyl

Brossard, Que., Council Votes In Favour Of Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban

Brossard, Que., Council Votes In Favour Of Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban
Brossard, Que., passed a bylaw as expected on Tuesday to ban the use of single-use plastic shopping bags in the Montreal suburb as of Sept. 1.

Brossard, Que., Council Votes In Favour Of Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban

Goats On The Lam? Feds Cough Up $255,487 For Goat Tagging, Traceability Program

Goats On The Lam? Feds Cough Up $255,487 For Goat Tagging, Traceability Program
The government is providing more than $250,000 to help the industry prepare for national identification requirements for the country's approximately 225,000 goats.

Goats On The Lam? Feds Cough Up $255,487 For Goat Tagging, Traceability Program

Dirt Biker Tells Tim Bosma's Murder Trial He Found Incinerator On Accused's Farm

Dirt Biker Tells Tim Bosma's Murder Trial He Found Incinerator On Accused's Farm
The trial of Tim Bosma's accused killers is hearing today from a witness who said he saw an incinerator on a farm owned by one of the accused four days after the Hamilton man disappeared.

Dirt Biker Tells Tim Bosma's Murder Trial He Found Incinerator On Accused's Farm

Zika Not Only Bug Of Concern To Travellers - Mosquitoes Also Carry Other Viruses

Dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever can also be harboured by the Zika-carrying Aedes mosquitoes that are endemic in Central and South America, many Caribbean countries, Mexico and parts of the southern U.S.

Zika Not Only Bug Of Concern To Travellers - Mosquitoes Also Carry Other Viruses

Inquiry Must Address Spectrum Of Violence Against Indigenous Women: Activist

Inquiry Must Address Spectrum Of Violence Against Indigenous Women: Activist
OTTAWA — An Ojibway activist is calling on the federal government to include domestic abuse in a forthcoming inquiry exploring the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Inquiry Must Address Spectrum Of Violence Against Indigenous Women: Activist