The territorial government has established income thresholds and cost sharing arrangements for its new Extended Health Benefits program.
The new rules kick in Sept. 1. For Yellowknife, the low-income threshold is $31,134.
“Eligible residents, whose income falls below the low-income threshold, are covered for a suite of benefits at no cost. Those with a higher income are eligible for prescription drug and medical supplies and equipment benefits and must contribute to covering a portion of the cost,” according to the GNWT in a press release.
Having a higher income doesn’t count anyone out though, necessarily. Those people might just need to pay a portion of the costs. How big a portion? The GNWT has made a calculator on its website to help figure that out.
Take prescription drugs, for example.
A family of four with a household net income of $160,000 would get an annual family deductible of $1,340. That’s how much they would pay out of pocket before their drug plan starts covering costs. Health and Social Services would pay 70 per cent of the costs, once that deductible is reached, according to the GNWT’s website.
There are some other big changes too. The new policy no longer requires residents to have a specified disease condition to access benefits. Instead, a suite of benefits is available, each with its own eligibility criteria and coverage levels, according to GNWT’s website.
The GNWT added that they used the Northern Market Basket Measure (MBM-N) from Statistics Canada to capture low-income thresholds and the true cost of necessities in each region.
Income thresholds will also be reviewed annually and updated as required.
Not everyone will be affected by the Extended Health Benefits changes. They shouldn’t impact seniors aged 60 and older. And there also shouldn’t be any changes for residents who access the Non-Insured Health Benefits and Métis Health Benefits.