Government Relations Report Jim Sherb First Vice-President Newly installed Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has indicated that one of her highest priorities will be the negotiation of a new Health Accord between the provinces, territories and federal government. The stated goal is to set national standards and provide provincial and territorial partners with stable, predictable, long-term funding. The 2004 Health Accord expired in 2014 and was not renegotiated by the previous federal government. Early indications are that the discussions will initially focus on expanding access to affordable home care and affordable prescription medication. We know that our population is aging and, statistically, we are living longer so affordable expansion in these areas is more important than ever. As an association, we are always concerned when the conversation concerns national health-care standards. One of the five pillars of the Canada Health Act is portability. Sub-paragraph 11(1)(b)(ii) of the act clearly establishes that portability includes emergency health services provided to Canadian residents while outside of the country. The act states that when emergency health services “are provided out of Canada, payment is made on the basis of the amount that would have been paid by the province for similar services rendered in the province.” The intent and purpose of sub-paragraph 11(1) (b)(ii) are clear. Unfortunately, the federal government has shown an unwillingness to enforce the standard which it has set in the act. Travellers seeking to protect their entitlements under the act, through litigation, have been told by the courts that it is up to the federal government to decide whether the act has been contravened and whether to impose a penalty on the provinces.The failure of previous federal governments to act in this regard is a disappointment to travelling Canadians and undermines the credibility of their own legislation. Rest assured, we will be reminding our federal members of parliament of our concerns during the negotiation of the new Federal Health Accord. In October 2014, we asked our Saskatchewan members to engage in an e-mail and letter-writing campaign requesting that the government of Saskatchewan amend its temporary absence policy in order to increase the amount of time which residents may spend outside of the province and still remain eligible for their provincial health coverage, from sixmonths to seven months. At the same time, the CSA remained active in advocating for this policy change in meetings with the premier and the minister of health, as well as members of the Human Services Policy Caucus Committee. We are pleased to announce that the Saskatchewan government has, effective January 1, 2016, formally increased the length of time for which residents may be absent from Saskatchewan, from six to sevenmonths (over any 12-month period), while still retaining continuous provincial health coverage. Saskatchewan is now the eighth province to permit out-of-province absences more than six months in length. Saskatchewan snowbirds will now be able to visit friends and familymembers outside of the province, after returning from their winter vacation, without fear of losing their provincial health coverage. This is great news for Saskatchewan snowbirds and another big win for the members of the Canadian Snowbird Association. On behalf of the association, I would like to thank Premier BradWall and the Honourable Dustin Duncan, minister of health, for taking the concerns of our Saskatchewanmembers seriously and making this happen. It’s no wonder that they are currently the most popular provincial government in Canada. Please do keep inmind that current U.S. policy unfortunately still limits the amount of time that Canadian citizens can legally spend in the United States to six months less a day, in any 12-month period. The long-delayed implementation of the joint Canada/U.S. declaration titled Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness is, guess what? Still delayed. Part of the declaration includes a bi-national border initiative in which entry and exit data will be shared regarding individuals travelling between Canada and the United States. While the initial stages have already been implemented, the information shared has been limited to permanent residents and third-country nationals. In March, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama agreed to implement the arrangement which had been previously negotiated with the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The originally scheduled implementation date of this phase of the initiative had been June 30, 2014. Legislation must now be drafted and put to a vote in Parliament before the sharing of entry and exit data for Canadian citizens becomes a reality. As more information becomes available, we will certainly keep you updated. CSANews | SPRING 2016 | 11
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