Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during the UCP leadership campaign that every Albertan will be provided with access to a personal Health Spending Account (HSA) to use for health expenses not covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan..That promise is now becoming a reality..“I’ve asked my technology and innovation minister, Nate Glubish, to work on creating the architecture for a Health Spending Account, which would bring more dollars into the system, more money into the hands of individual patients so they can pay for all the things that are currently not covered by the healthcare system,” Smith told reporters on Tuesday from Calgary..“That’s another major structural change we’re looking at making — and again, that doesn’t rely on the federal government for us to do those kinds of things.".Details of Smith’s plan for HSAs are as follows:.• Each Albertan will be able to register an HSA, including one for each of their children..• The account will operate similarly to Uber or Airbnb in that it will connect patients with service providers directly through an app on your phone or device. This will ensure there's no unnecessary bureaucracy or delays in getting Albertans the health services they need..• Licensed Health Service providers will be able to register to receive payments directly from their patients’ HSA..• When you receive a health service from your health provider, you will initiate and approve the transfer of money from your account through the app..• Children’s HSAs will be overseen by their parents or legal guardian..• Funds may be transferred between family member HSAs as the parents deem necessary (i.e. one family member might have far more health care needs than the others)..Smith said to start things off in the Spring of 2023, the Alberta Government will invest at least $300 in each Albertan’s HSA depending on the size of the expected budget surplus. For example, that would be $1,200 for a family of four..“Politicians have Health Spending Accounts, the public sector has Health Spending Accounts, energy executives have Health Spending Accounts," Smith said.."It does seem to me if this is a mechanism people are using to manage all the costs that are not covered by healthcare, we should make that available to everyday Albertans too. I’ll have more to say about it after the budget is released.”
