OTTAWA — Conservatives are accusing the Carney government of quietly reversing refugee health-care reforms after Ottawa restored full coverage for several medical services that had been subject to co-payments since May.The criticism follows the government's decision to restore full coverage for services including respiratory equipment, feeding supplies, implantable hearing devices, nursing home care and hospital rehabilitation under the Interim Federal Health Program.The change was not publicly announced. Instead, health-care providers were notified through Medavie Blue Cross, which administers the federal program.The decision partially reverses changes introduced May 1, when eligible refugees and asylum claimants began paying a $4 co-payment on prescription drugs and 30% of the cost of most supplemental health benefits.At the time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said the new fees would help “manage increasing costs while continuing to provide access to essential health-care services.”Core medical care, including physician visits and hospital services, remained fully covered throughout the changes..In a statement Friday, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said the Liberals had once again reversed course without informing Canadians.“After insisting for months nothing was wrong, the government refused to withdraw these benefits, and instead told Canadians it would make coverage conditional on a copay,” Rempel Garner said.“They have now changed direction again by withdrawing the copay requirement.”Rempel Garner argued the Interim Federal Health Program provides coverage for services “not covered for most Canadians,” including prescription drugs, vision care, physiotherapy, home care and speech therapy.She also cited Parliamentary Budget Officer figures, saying the program costs taxpayers more than $1 billion annually.“Canada’s seniors are again going to pay for coverage for those who have not paid into the system, and they will be competing for spaces in nursing homes that already are overburdened,” she said.“Introducing additional international competition in elder care is unfair and must be stopped.”Rempel Garner said the government's handling of the program reflects a broader pattern.“This is a pattern for this Liberal government: promising Canadians they will get a handle on an issue, and then doing nothing or quietly rolling back changes when they believe nobody is looking,” she said.The Conservatives also renewed their call to limit health benefits for failed asylum claimants. Rempel Garner noted the party tabled a motion in February that would have restricted coverage for failed asylum seekers to emergency lifesaving care, but said Liberal MPs voted against it.The Interim Federal Health Program provides temporary health-care coverage to refugees, asylum claimants and certain other protected persons until they become eligible for provincial or territorial health insurance.
