Yukoners won’t be seeing health care user fees any time soon.
“Our premier is pretty adamant that no user fees will be implemented in the near future,” said Glenn Hart, the Health and Social Services minister, on Tuesday.
His remarks come after Rao Tadepalli, president of the Yukon Medical Association, suggested user fees are “the norm” elsewhere and that he expects to see them introduced here in the Yukon in the not too distant future.
“I think privatization of health care will come in at some stage,” he said, calling the territory’s health system financially unsustainable.
Last year, the territorial government released a health care review document where it suggested introducing health premiums, like those found in British Columbia and Ontario, to raise $13 million annually.
The government proposed collecting premiums the same way income taxes are collected. In Ontario, for instance, rates are based as a percentage of income up to a maximum of $75 per person per month.
But, after floating the idea publicly, such fees won’t come here.
“It’s based on consultations that we did with the general public and also based on information provided by the premier.”
Hart also couldn’t explain why Tadepalli had mentioned the word, “privatization.”
“We’re not going there. We’re providing health care to all Yukoners on a public basis like we have in the past,” he said. (Vivian Belik)