Ambulance theme takes hold in election

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2016 (3843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A little more than a year ago, CBC’s “Marketplace” published the results of an investigation that suggested Manitoba was home to the highest ambulance rates in the country.

That report also showed that the very highest flat-rate ambulance fee was found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, specifically the Assiniboine area, at $530. The fee in Winnipeg wasn’t far behind at $512.

At the same time, some parts of Ontario sported the lowest ambulance fees at $45.

That PMH had the highest flat rate in Canada came as a surprise to Louise Stitt, an emergency medical services manager for the RHA. But in defence of the high cost of using an ambulance in Westman, Stitt told “Marketplace” fees differ between provinces and cities because they depend on subsidies provided by provincial governments and municipalities, which vary.

“To quote rates in such a complex system is really difficult to compare because I don’t think it’s comparing apples to apples,” Stitt told “Marketplace.”

She added that while flat rates may be lower in other locations, health authorities may add on other fees that push the patient’s total bill higher, such as a fee per kilometre travelled, non-residency fees if you live outside the local health region, or a fee for advanced life-support technology for some patients.

Her assessment of the system was that a flat fee without an extra mileage charge would be fairer in a rural area, because mileage fees penalize those who live furthest from a hospital.

This report, and Stitt’s comments, go a long way to explain yesterday’s NDP election campaign announcement of cutting ambulance fees in half and ending a per-kilometre fee currently charged to rural and northern Manitoba patients. It’s like they were channelling the “Marketplace” report.

Premier Greg Selinger also suggested his New Democrats would spend roughly $20 million to bring down the cost of parking in provincial-owned hospital parkades and lots.

The NDP pledge comes a week after Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister announced that, if elected, his government would reduce ambulance fees by half in his first year. The Tory leader suggested it would cost about $11 million to cut fees by 50 per cent.

In his announcement, made outside Brandon No. 1 Fire Hall, Pallister even referenced the “Marketplace” story noted above.

In fact, this ambulance theme seems to have been a game of one-upsmanship played by party leaders, as Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari was first out of the gate on March 17, pledging to provide free ambulance service to low-income seniors — those who earn under $20,000. While she didn’t know how many seniors would be eligible for the proposed subsidy, the Liberal war room still managed to come up with a price tag of less than $1.5 million per year.

Ambulance rates and fees, of course, are important to Manitobans — especially those of us who live in rural parts of the province as we have the most to lose when it comes to out-of-pocket expenses if we don’t have health insurance that covers needed ambulance rides.

Of the three election platform announcements, the NDP’s — on the surface — seems to offer the most to Manitobans. It also would cost the most to Manitoba taxpayers. Keep in mind, all these election goodies need to be paid for somehow.

But if cutting ambulance rate fees are such good ideas in the heat of an election campaign, how come the NDP — which has been in power since 1999 — didn’t see fit to help rural Manitobans facing stiff fees years ago?