NDP pledges to cut ambulance fees

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This article was published 29/03/2016 (3853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP will cut the cost of ambulance rides and hospital parking fees if it is re-elected April 19.

Standing in the Canad Inns with Brandon West NDP candidate Linda Ross by his side on Monday, leader Greg Selinger elaborated on a campaign promise made earlier in the day to cut ambulance fees in half and remove the per kilometre fee for rural residents.

“We are going to have the same fee for people in rural Manitoba as we have in urban Manitoba,” Selinger said, adding that it’s very different than what the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals are promising.

On March 17, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari said she will spend at least $1.5 million a year to provide free ambulance service for seniors making less than $20,000 a year.

Bokhari said seniors should not have to choose between paying for food and rent or paying for an ambulance when they’re in crisis.

“I can’t tell you how many have said to me, ‘I’m taking a cab, I’m having a heart attack,’” she said.

On March 18, Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister said he’ll reduce ambulance fees by half beginning in his first year in office, to bring them more in line with the rest of Canada.

“Seniors and other patients needing care should expect a paramedic at their door, not a $500 bill in the mail,” Pallister said. “That’s just wrong.”

Manitoba has the highest ambulance fees in the country, according to a CBC “Marketplace” investigation.

“We’re going to eliminate that per kilometre charge and have the same fee for everybody and cut it in half,” Selinger said.

“That is very different than what the Conservatives have promised — they were going to keep the differential fees. And the Liberals were going to only deal with a small band of seniors under $20,000.”

Rural residents have long argued against the per kilometre fee for calling an ambulance.

“It took a while to get our head around it and we’re tackling it,” Selinger said, adding that the NDP eliminated the inter-facility transfer fee in the last term.

The NDP will also double funding for the Emergency Paramedic in the Community program, which is run by the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service.

The program reaches out to frequent ambulance patients to give them the support they need in their own communities.

Selinger said the program can reduce the demand on emergency rooms by up to 60 per cent.

“It’s about providing more service to people in their community,” he said.

These promises build on the speech from the throne, according to Selinger.

The pledge announced on Monday is expected to cost $20 million and would see the government subsidize parking at hospitals, as well as, support transportation programs, such as the CancerCare model, for people who need to frequent the hospital regularly due to chronic diseases.

Support for the CancerCare program would be doubled.

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