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| Have a heart!
Health Coalition calls on province to reverse the residential care rate hike |
BC's seniors in residential care are being hit with yet another round of rate increases. This comes on top of last year's hikes, which have already caused profound financial and emotional hardship for many.
This latest increase is the second in a two-part fee hike following the province's decision to increase residential care rates to up to 80 percent of residents' after tax income.
The new rate structure allows for a minimum of $275 per month for residents to cover personal expenses. For many seniors, this is not enough to cover basic things like dental care, hygiene products, recreation, etc. Furthermore, those on income assistance only retain $95 per month for personal expenses.
"One of the worst consequences of the fee increase is the situation for married couples who have one spouse living in a residential care facility and one spouse living at home," says BC Health Coalition co-chair Alice Edge. "The spouse living at home is left with next to nothing. We are hearing from people who are facing legal separation in order to cope financially."
The BC government needs to stop putting an unnecessary burden on seniors. Instead, the province must invest in public health care and promote public solutions, not levy penalizing user fees.
Take Action! Click here to send a letter to the provincial government demanding that it reverse the residential care rate hike.
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| BCHC renews call for Health Canada investigation of Copeman Healthcare Centre |
| Pressure builds across country for federal action on member-only "concierge" medicine |
 Federal health critic MPs and doctors have joined the BC Health Coalition in calling on Ottawa to take action on the for-profit Copeman Healthcare Centre - a member-only primary care clinic with branches in Vancouver and Calgary.
Copeman charges an up-front access fee of $3,900 and ongoing fees of $2,900 per year that allow for preferred access to medical practitioners working there, the majority of whom bill the public health insurance plan for their services while serving only those patients who are members of the exclusive clinic.
The BC government, responding to public pressure, audited the Copeman clinic in 2007. Somehow they concluded that charging patients thousands of dollars in additional fees is not a barrier to accessing health care services at the clinic. Not surprisingly, they refuse to release the reasoning behind this indefensible decision. This leaves British Columbians looking to the federal government to enforce our Medicare laws.
This month the BCHC, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, federal NDP Health Critic Megan Leslie and Liberal Health Critic Ujjal Dosanjh all expressed concern about the federal government's inaction in what appears to be a clear violation of the Canada Health Act's universal accessibility principles. Health Canada has yet to respond to the BCHC's October 2010 request for a review of Copeman.
"This is an issue of access to insured medical services on the basis of need," says BCHC co-chair Rachel Tutte. "Health Canada must make it clear to provincial health ministries that charging access fees for membership in a primary care clinic violates the CHA requirement to provide health services on uniform terms that do not impede access," she said.
The calls for action come on the heels of a Quebec public health insurance board investigation into Medisys 123 and other concierge primary care clinics operating in that province, and follow last October's promise by Health Canada to investigate Sentinelle Health Group in Ottawa.
Take Action! Click here to send a message to Federal Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq calling on her to investigate suspected B.C. violations of the Canada Health Act.
Click here to download the BCHC letter to Health Canada.
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| Health Coalition calls on provincial party leadership candidates to take a stand on public health care |
The BCHC is asking all declared leadership candidates for the provincial Liberal and New Democratic parties to state their policy positions on issues our members have identified as important to the future of our health care system.
We have asked each of them to tell us what a government under their leadership would do to stop the growth of private, for-profit medical and surgical clinics in BC and address the burden that hospital user fees have placed on British Columbians, particularly seniors and people with chronic conditions.
The BCHC's regional networks are assisting participants with setting up meetings with their local MLAs and making presentations to Health Authority boards, as well as providing resources on interacting with elected officials and materials on home and community care issues.
Watch for their responses in the next BCHC e-newsletter.
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| Get Covered! |
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Looking for a creative way to show your support for public health care in your community? Join Medicare supporters across BC in our photo rally! We've got red umbrellas and message cards that you can use at parades, festivals, your home, farmers markets, the ballpark - wherever you might be this spring.
We'll send you the props, you send us the pictures you've taken and we'll add them to our visual map of supporters for positive, public solutions to strengthen Medicare.
Volunteer opportunities are available right now for those living in the Lower Mainland. If you live outside the Lower Mainland our staff can put you in contact with health care supporters in your own community.
Join the Rally! Click here for info on how to get everything you'll need and to see photos from around BC.
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| JOB POSTING: Coordinator - Development and Outreach |
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The BC Health Coalition is seeking a part-time Coordinator. The Development and Outreach Coordinator works to assist the Coalition in its mandate to protect and strengthen Canada's universal public health care system - Medicare - in British Columbia.
Hours of work: 17.5 hours per week (permanent part-time)
Posting closing date: February 27, 2011
Download the posting.
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