B.C.'s new health minister explores prioritizing healthcare access for migrants despite overburdened system
One of NDP Health Minister Josie Osborne's first orders of business could be eliminating the waiting period for newcomers to access the province's healthcare system.
As British Columbia grapples with a healthcare crisis marked by closed emergency rooms, months-long wait times for care, and nearly 700,000 citizens still without a family doctor, newly appointed NDP Health Minister Josie Osborne is considering the possibility of expediting healthcare access for migrants and other non-residents.
Just weeks after being sworn in, Osborne told 1130 NewsRadio that her office is committed to exploring the option of eliminating the waiting period for newcomers to gain eligibility for the province’s Medical Services Plan (MSP).
"British Columbians told us loud and clear they expect us to continue to take action to strengthen our public health and mental health care system,” stated Osborne.
While the promise has garnered support from former SFU and UBC associate professor Dr. Shira Goldenberg, who has researched MSP waiting periods and believes such policies disproportionately affect "racialized groups," others, such as BC Tory Opposition Leader John Rustad, took to social media to strongly criticize the NDP’s proposal.
"We have one of the worst healthcare systems in the world, and now David Eby wants to make it worse,” Rustad said about Premier Eby in response to Osborne’s plans.
"This is completely unacceptable. David Eby wants to say that all foreigners do not have to wait, they can just come into this province at any time, receive healthcare, and jump the queue from you," Rustad continued, before encouraging British Columbians to join the Conservative Party of B.C. to "bring an end to what David Eby is doing in destroying healthcare in British Columbia."
Despite British Columbia’s three-month Medical Services Plan (MSP) waiting period for newcomers, the province is already capable of waiving expenses for foreigners in extraordinary circumstances without eliminating the waiting period across the board. In April, Jatinder Singh, a man who had only arrived in the province a few days prior, was viciously stabbed near the White Rock pier. While recovering from his injuries, the foreigner was also slapped with hefty medical bills for the treatment he received. The province later waived his waiting period and covered his medical expenses.
According to provincial data, B.C. received 16,789 new immigrants in the second quarter of this year alone. In addition, the federal government announced in September that asylum seekers would be relocated from Ottawa and Ontario to provinces across Canada, with B.C. expected to receive approximately 21,000 individuals. This relocation comes without financial support from the federal government, adding further pressure to an already strained healthcare system.
Drea Humphrey
B.C. Bureau Chief
Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.
COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2024-12-04 19:37:14 -0500Freeloaders must be sent packing. These illegal aliens have no right to usurp Canadian health care which we the people pay for. People worry about how to deport these freeloaders but all that’s needed is to cut them off from ALL services. And criminals must be deported. Stupid NDP people are so determined to throw our money away on those who just use our services. Let medical treatment go to the ones who are citizens and truly need it.
