SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Health Minister Sandy Lee's controversial bid to revamp supplementary health care ran aground last week.

But while the three-year push to extend supplementary health benefits (eye care, dental, some medical equipment and drugs) to the working poor might be dead in the water, a few changes are still on the horizon.

Health Minister Lee: "We only have so much money." -

"Every day we are asked why don't you cover this disease, this equipment," said Lee. "We only have so much money."

On Monday, Lee laid out how what remains of her supplementary health benefits plan will be implemented.

Work will begin immediately with doctors and nurses to switch to lower cost generic drugs, instead of their brand name cousins. This will allow for the Department of Health and Social Services to begin bulk purchasing these drugs, instead of having the territory receive its medications through smaller orders by individual health authorities.

Private and public employers will be encouraged to provide third-party insurance to their employees.

Residency of one year in the territory will be required before becoming eligible to receive extended health benefits coverage. Previously, new residents became eligible to qualify immediately after obtaining a Northwest Territories health card.

The goal of the territorial program will be parity with federal coverage to treaty Dene, Inuit and Inuvialuit peoples through its Non-insured Health Benefits program. Plans to achieve this will come in the spring.

What's gone from Monday's announcement are plans to immediately expand drug, medical equipment, dental and eye care coverage to uninsured, low income earners, and plans to make seniors and people with some chronic illnesses pay for part of their coverage if deemed that they could afford it. Lee told the legislative assembly she still plans to expand coverage to low income earners, but it can only come after more study and savings are found by such means as generic drug bulk purchases and encouraging third-party insurance.

"We have all these people at different levels of coverage - the working poor, seniors and those covered by the NIHB (treaty status aboriginals)," said Lee. "We have working families with no insurance, self-employed with no third-party insurance and we have lots of seniors with high incomes. Instead of by age, we wanted to base assistance on need."

In the meantime, low income earners without third-party insurance will remain on the hook for their drug, eye care and dental costs, while those with full coverage will continue to pay nothing.

"What it means is for the immediate term is that people with chronic illnesses, diabetes, cancers, will still have their drugs covered without need to make a co-payment," said David Wind, spokesperson on supplementary health issues with the Yellowknife Seniors' Society. "Nobody loses out."

What about the working poor?

"Admittedly, they would have been better off under the old plan," Wind said.

During the 2008/09 fiscal year the territory spent $7.4 million on supplementary health benefits, with costs increasing some six per cent annually.

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