Set clear times for health consultation, go beyond Canada Health Act in new law, AUPE president advises
EDMONTON – The Alberta government needs to announce the times and details of its latest public health care consultation as soon as possible if it expects a meaningful and representative contribution from Albertans, says the president of the province’s largest union.
“It is extremely important that the consultation process announced by the government this morning be genuine, open and broad-based, and for that to happen citizens need to know when, where and how to speak up,” said Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Guy Smith.
“Albertans have already spoken very clearly and emphatically that they support our system of public health care and want it protected and enhanced,” Smith said.
“It is hard to believe that the government doesn’t understand exactly what Albertans want and expect on this issue,” he said. “Nevertheless, it won’t hurt them to hear it again, and for that to happen, citizens need to hear the details of the consultation process as quickly as possible.”
At a morning news conference, Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky and Conservative MLA Fred Horne, who was chair of the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Health, made it clear the purpose of this latest consultation would be to guide the form that health care regulation and legislation should take.
The government said in a news release today that it is accepting all recommendations of the committee and announced Horne would now lead the consultation process.
One of the committee’s recommendations is the creation of an Alberta Health Act to parallel the Canada Health Act, and this morning’s announcement said work on drafting that legislation would start immediately.
“I know AUPE members will be telling the government that this new Alberta Health Act needs to go beyond the Canada Health Act in terms of extending publicly financed health care,” Smith said. “We need to ensure that creating an Alberta Health Act isn’t used to make an end-run around the provisions of the Canada Health Act.
“The Alberta Health Act will need to recognize all medical procedures and not be used as an excuse to de-list services that are now covered,” he said.
In addition, he said, “the Alberta Health Act should include and require coverage for drug costs outside hospital settings, which is one of the biggest barriers to adequate medical treatment for many Albertans today.”
As well as legislating publicly supported access to needed pharmaceuticals for all Albertans who are undergoing treatment, regardless of the setting in which the treatment takes place, the new Alberta Health Act should recognize and work to remedy the connection between poverty and illness, said Smith.
“We don’t need more research to know that there is a connection between ill-health and poverty,” Smith said. “So the Alberta Health Act should also address the issue of ensuring adequate nutrition for all children, a practical wellness measure that can reduce health care costs over the long term.”
“It is troubling that the same day this government announced its intention to have more consultation on health care, it unilaterally announced it was freezing the minimum wage, a measure that will have negative health impacts for many Albertans living below the poverty line,” Smith said.
Moreover, Smith said, none of the committee’s recommendations will be meaningful without a commitment by the government to provide more funding for public health care or hire additional health workers.
He repeated his earlier observation that the committee’s recommendation to consolidate key legislation into a single statute makes sense. “AUPE has pushed for the same approach in another field – labour law – and we hope this means the government is willing to consider this sound idea wherever it can be usefully applied.”
30
For more information, contact:
Guy Smith, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-2294 (mobile phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, ASUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (mobile phone)