Some plans that Premier Danielle Smith has for health care are coming under fire from the NDP.
Opposition Health Critic David Shepherd says one of their main concerns is on the “health spending accounts” that Smith proposed in her UCP leadership campaign.
“She talked about introducing health spending accounts, it was very clear that she saw that as a way to, in her words, change the conversation about health care, and basically get people used to the idea that maybe they should pay for more services out of pocket. She specifically talked about family doctors and said should the government really be paying for you to see your family doctor? Maybe you should pay for that yourself out of your health spending account.”
Shepherd says this is something the NDP “fundamentally does not support” adding it would lead to new out-of-pockets costs on Alberta families who need basic healthcare.
“People talk about credit card medicine or making people reach for their wallet, that was literally what Danielle Smith was proposing. Now she’s trying to claim that in fact that’s not what she means now. She has abandoned that idea like so many other bad ideas she’s had over the years. But the question is can we really trust her on that? This is a Premier who’s told us she’s going to force Albertans to accept an Alberta provincial police force that nobody wants.”
Our full Hot Seat interview with Shepherd can be found below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
