HAY RIVER - Hay River seniors are warning that some older people may leave the NWT if proposed changes are made to the supplementary health benefits program.

Dane Heide, assistant deputy minister of Health and Social Services, addresses a Hay River public meeting on proposed changes to the supplementary health benefits program. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The GNWT is proposing to have high-income earners pay for health care on a graduated scale, in order to extend benefits to more residents. Health Minister Sandy Lee said the government is considering setting income thresholds for coverage at $30,000 and $50,000. Non-aboriginal Northerners earning less than the threshold amount would have 100 per cent of their prescription, dental and vision care covered. Those earning more than the amount will have to pay part of their health care costs.

Eileen Collins, past president of the Hay River Seniors Society, called the idea "the Robin Hood principle." She said she knows of two town residents who are making plans to leave the NWT because of it.

"That's the tipping point," she said, noting that charging high-income seniors for supplementary health benefits would make the NWT a less attractive place to live when combined with the higher cost of living in the North.

At a public meeting on the issue in Hay River on March 25, resident Shari Burnstad warned that, if seniors start to leave, the GNWT would lose millions of dollars in population-based transfer payments from the federal government.

"I would hate to see anybody leave the North because of this," Dana Heide, assistant deputy minister of Health and Social Services, said at the meeting. Even with the proposed changes, said Heide, the NWT would still offer the best medical benefits in Canada.

"Before you pack your bags and move, make sure you know what you're getting into," he said.

About 60 people, almost all seniors, showed up for the meeting and expressed numerous objections to the proposed changes. The territorial government wants to create a supplementary health benefits program based on net family income and family type.

The changes would combine three programs currently providing supplementary health benefits to certain groups of non-aboriginal people – the seniors' benefits program for those 60 years of age and over, indigent health benefits and extended health benefits for people with specified medical conditions.

"There's a hole in it," Heide said of the current system. "There's a portion of the population not being serviced."

The proposed changes would allow all non-aboriginals and non-indigenous Metis to access services, such as coverage for certain prescription drugs, medical supplies and equipment, limited dental and vision care, and ambulances and medical travel.

Under the proposed changes, coverage for supplementary health benefits would be provided to everyone up to a certain income level, which hasn't been determined. Above that level, families and individuals would pay a portion of the cost. The income threshold would change for single people, couples and couples with one, two or more dependent children.

The Hay River Seniors Society has launched a petition against the proposed changes. The Hay River meeting followed a March 23 meeting in Fort Simpson -- the first in a series in regional centres.

Heide faced uncertainty and confusion from eight people at the meeting in Fort Simpson.

"The question becomes what's fair," said Heide, referring to the income threshold.

There's also the question of what a co-payment arrangement would look like, he said.

The government wants to change the current system for a number of reasons, including the fact more than 2,000 residents don't have supplementary health benefits or third-party coverage.

Many of those residents can be classified as "the working poor," said Heide.

"If you can't afford it, you're out of luck if you don't have third-party benefits," he added.

The proposed changes will not affect insured health benefits, which are those provided under the Canada Health Act, or aboriginal and indigenous Metis residents of the NWT.

The concept behind the proposed changes is access should not be based on age, medical conditions or on being poor, said Heide, explaining that, by charging people with higher incomes, benefits can be opened up to people closer to the bottom of the income scale.

"It's not on the backs of seniors, it's on the backs of high-income earners," said Heide.

In Fort Simpson, Tom Wilson, president of the NWT Seniors Society, said the society's stance is that seniors, regardless of their net income, should not be charged for the benefits they currently have.

Currently, seniors can get 100 per cent coverage. However, if they have third-party health coverage, it pays 80 per cent and the seniors' benefits program pays 20 per cent.

The public meetings on the proposed changes continue in Inuvik on March 29, Norman Wells on March 30, Fort Smith on April 1, and Yellowknife on April 7.

Residents have until April 7 to provide input to the GNWT.

Information gathered will be used to formulate a proposal to government sometime in April or May. The plan is to implement changes by September.

-- with files from Elizabeth McMillan