[van-announce] Disability Review Deadline March 15

[resist at resist.ca]

-------- Original Message --------
From: Cathy Woods <cathywoods at shawlink.ca>
Date: Thu, February 27, 2003 4:28 pm
To: cathywoods at shawlink.ca

Urgent Community Alert to everyone being reassessed for Disability
Benefits BC Coalition of People with Disabilities

This is a reminder to everyone who received a Designation Review Form
for disability benefits in October 2002 that the deadline for returning
your completed form to the Ministry of Human Resources is March 15,
2003.

Canada Post has advised us that, to be sure your envelope is stamped by
or before Saturday March 15th, you must mail it no later than the last
mail pickup
on Wednesday March 13.

If you do not return your completed form by the March 15th deadline,
your benefits will be reduced after June 15th 2003.

If you or someone you know needs assistance to complete the Designation
Review Form, please download our Help Sheet, or call our office at (604)
872-1278.

Community groups
Please post this notice in your office to alert your clients to the
upcoming deadline for returning provincial disability benefits
reassessment forms.Thank you for your attention.

BCCPD Disability Help Sheet
http://www.bccpd.bc.ca/commalert/helpsheets/PWDapplication2w.pdf

MHR: Information for People with Disabilities
http://www.mhr.gov.bc.ca/pwd/Index.htm

Creative Resistance: Disability Issues
http://www.creativeresistance.ca/awareness-toc/awareness-disability-issues.htm
__

“Fair Pharmacare” is a farce
CUPE
February 25, 2003

VANCOUVER – The provincial government has made good on its promise to
tax the sick and the elderly by announcing massive cuts to Pharmacare
subsidies with some seniors paying 250 per cent more for drugs. Click
here for Pharmacare calculations.

“If the government takes $90 million out of the pockets of British
Columbians what do you call it?” asked CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill
following yesterday’s announcement. “A tax increase? Well, no. You call
it “Fair Pharmacare Improves Access for BC Families.”

What the government didn’t include in yesterday’s news release is that
the they
are planning to slash provincial spending on drug plans from $702
million to $614 million next year. That was in the fine print from last
Tuesday’s budget.

“B.C. has changed the way it collects taxes,” O’Neill said. “Progressive
income
taxes are disappearing to be replaced with fees and charges, and now a
tax specifically on the sick.”

The new plan will help some low-income British Columbians. But
middle-income earners and retired British Columbians will pay for it.

Pharmacare Calculations
http://www.cupe.bc.ca/files/news_release_-_pharmacare_cuts_-_feb._25,_2003.pdf

OPEIU 491
___

On the new Pharmacare Program from the Vancouver Sun

HOW TO REGISTER

To be eligible for the new Fair PharmaCare program, everyone must
register.  If you are one of 440,000 people currently receiving premium
assistance, you will be automatically registered, but need to activate
the registration. A form
will be sent to your home that you must sign after disclosing your net
income. You do not need to call the toll-free number or register
on-line.  If you are not currently receiving premium assistance, you
have two options for
registration. You can call 1-800-387-4977 or visit www.gov.bc.ca and
click on PharmaCare, where you will find a registration form.
To register, you must have the B.C. Care Card numbers for yourself, your
spouse
and any dependent children.
You will need all household 2001 tax returns, where you will find your
net income.
You will need the social insurance numbers for yourself, your spouse and
any independent children.
You will need the birth dates of anyone you are registering.
Ran with fact box "How to register", which has been appended to the end
of the story.
__

Register for Pharmacare Program
https://pharmacare.moh.hnet.bc.ca/

BC's PharmaCare program is being modernized to provide fair access to
prescription drugs across the province. The new approach focuses
PharmaCare financial assistance for British Columbians who need it most:
the lower your income, the more assistance the government will provide
for your prescription drugs.

Under the old approach, many low-income British Columbians have been
paying a higher portion of their prescription drug costs than those with
higher incomes.
The Fair PharmaCare program will help correct this problem and protect
the important benefits PharmaCare provides at a time of rapidly rising
drug costs. Under the new program, up to 280,000 BC families with lower
incomes will pay less than they are paying now. Overall, the vast
majority of BC families will pay the same or less for their prescription
drug costs through this new, more equitable approach.

BC's new Fair PharmaCare program starts May 1, 2003.

To receive your maximum financial assistance under the Fair PharmaCare
program,
you should register now.

Personal information entered by you on this Web site is collected under
the authority of the British Columbia Continuing Care Act. The
information will be used to determine eligibility for PharmaCare
financial assistance. If you have any questions about the collection of
this information, contact a PharmaCare representative at the address or
telephone numbers provided and ask to speak to
a PharmaCare Manager. Personal information is collected, used, disclosed
and provided security in accordance with the British Columbia Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

For more information, call toll-free in BC 1-800-387-4977.

To Complete Your Fair PharmaCare Registration

Please use the previous and next buttons at the bottom of each page in
order to
complete your registration for Fair PharmaCare and to navigate through
this Web
site. Please do not use the back, forward and home buttons.

Who Should Register

You should register before the new Fair PharmaCare program starts on May
1, 2003.

If you are a BC resident, register your family now to receive your
maximum financial assistance under the Fair PharmaCare program.

If you or your spouse is a BC resident at least 65 years or older, you
are eligibile for financial assistance under the seniors' Fair
PharmaCare program. If you or your spouse is a BC resident born in 1939
or earlier and about to turn 65, you will soon be eligibile for
PharmaCare financial assistance under this program. You should register
now.

If you are a BC resident receiving Medical Services Plan (MSP) premium
assistance, you have already been registered for your maximum PharmaCare
financial assistance for 2003, based on your family's net income. You
will receive confirmation of your financial assistance and a consent
form in the mail. You will need to sign and return the consent form to
continue receiving your maximum PharmaCare coverage. If you do not
receive this confirmation by March 31, 2003, please call toll-free in BC
1-800-387-4977.

Who is Eligible for BC's New Fair PharmaCare Program

To register for Fair PharmaCare financial assistance you must:

Be a resident of British Columbia for at least three months, and
Be registered with the Medical Services Plan of British Columbia, and
Meet the Canadian residency requirement (person has resided in Canada
and has been a Canadian citizen or holder of permanent resident status
for the last 12 months), and
Have filed an income tax return for the relevant taxation year.
To qualify for senior's PharmaCare financial assistance in the future,
you or your spouse must have been born in 1939 or earlier. British
Columbians born in 1940 and later who register will be eligible for
financial assistance under the
new Fair PharmaCare program.

Checklist of what you will need to register:
https://pharmacare.moh.hnet.bc.ca/PPIBroker?ExternalAction=JppiChecklist#FAM
ILY

Register for Pharmacare
https://pharmacare.moh.hnet.bc.ca/PPIBroker?ExternalAction=JppiApply

Pharmacare Home Page
http://www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/pharme/

More on Pharmacare
http://www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/pharme/plani/planiindex.html
___

Private insurer wary of PharmaCare costs
Expenses will be passed to private sector, Pacific Blue Cross claims
  Amy O'Brian
Vancouver Sun
February 27, 2003

Heidi and Harold Bumann don't think the new Fair PharmaCare program will
benefit them much, if at all. Harold needs medication to control
high-blood pressure, glaucoma and high cholesterol.

British Columbia's biggest private health-care insurer is bracing itself
for a jump of at least five per cent in claims costs because of the
province's new Fair PharmaCare program.

The expected increase in costs will be downloaded to the private sector
in the form of higher premiums, which will be absorbed mostly by
employers who offer health benefits to their workers, said a
representative of Pacific Blue Cross.

"At the end of the day, there is an increase in claims caused by [the
PharmaCare changes]. It will, down the road, be reflected in rate
increases," said Peter Jones, of Pacific Blue Cross.

It is estimated the Liberal government will save the province about $100
million in the latest PharmaCare change. Jones said the costs will be
passed on
to group insurance plans, the premiums for which are paid mostly by
private companies.

After Health Services Minister Colin Hansen made an announcement Monday
about the new income-based PharmaCare formula, Pacific Blue Cross
immediately began calculating the increase in claims costs.

Although the numbers are rough, Jones said the company is predicting a
five- to
seven-per-cent increase in claims costs. He noted, though, that the
number reflects over-all claims costs, not just the pharmaceutical
portion.

At this early stage, Jones could not predict how much more health
insurance premiums will cost, but said health care costs are rising in
every area.

In the area of pharmaceuticals, Jones said prescription drug use and
drug costs
have been increasing by 10 to 15 per cent per year for several years.

Linda McNabb is one of more than two million British Columbians who have
extended health-care benefits from the private sector.

Her husband works for the City of Vancouver, which provides its
employees with Pacific Blue Cross insurance, which McNabb says her
family could not survive without.

With a mid-range income, two daughters in post-secondary education, a
disability pension, a diabetic husband and extensive needs for
prescription medications, McNabb says the new PharmaCare program is
anything but fair and her family would take a severe financial hit if it
weren't for extended benefits.

The province has practically wiped out the McNabbs' PharmaCare subsidies
under the new income-based plan because the couple has a net income of
about $43,000.

"The Liberals consider that wealthy," she said.

After spending several hours going through receipts and doing dozens of
calculations this week, McNabb figured she will be paying about $160
more per year for her family's prescriptions after the new program takes
effect May 1.

If it weren't for the secondary insurance her husband receives from his
employer, McNabb would be paying about $1,580 for her family's
prescriptions, while the province would pay about $655.

"If my husband didn't have [extended benefits], it would be devastating
for us," she said.

Harold Bumann, 72, also receives extended health benefits, but his plan
is with
Great West Life, through a pension plan from his former employer, Canada
Post.

Bumann is a low-income senior who fits perfectly into the category
intended to benefit most from the new PharmaCare program, but he won't
see much of a change
in his costs because of his secondary insurance.

"I don't think [the new PharmaCare program] is going to substantially
change anything for us," he said.

Bumann and his wife Heidi , 66, have a joint net income of about
$30,000, putting them in the category that will experience the greatest
pharmaceutical cost reduction, according to the announcement from the
province.

Under the new program, effective May 1, senior households with a net
income less than $33,000 won't pay a deductible for their drug costs,
but will pay 25 per cent of the bill until their costs reach the
equivalent of 1.25 per cent of
their income.

While the province is declaring this latest change a victory for
low-income earners, Bumann said it won't put any more money in his
pocket.

He and his wife paid about $190 for their cholesterol medications out of
their own pocket last year. The province and Great West Life paid the
rest.

Bumann has not yet done all the math, but he doubts the new program will
save him enough money to compensate for the year-long wait he has had
for heart surgery, or the $1,200 he and his wife paid the province in
health care premiums last year.

"I've been paying into the system for 50 years and now it's claiming to
save me
a few dollars," he said.
___

B.C. Liberals' survey is skewed: report
 canada.com
 February 26, 2003

CREDIT: Vancouver Sun

VICTORIA -- The Liberal government is trumpeting the results of a
welfare survey, even though half the poll's targets were unavailable
because their phones were disconnected.

The Ministry of Human Resources claims the poll shows people leaving
welfare for work are almost tripling their incomes.

The government's news release is written to suggest that between last
October and December, 67 per cent of individuals left welfare for paid
employment.

But a report on the survey reveals the ministry only completed
interviews with less than a third of the nearly 4,800 people whose names
disappeared from the welfare rolls.

That's not too surprising.

The report shows that nearly half of those, or 2,200 former welfare
recipients,
had phones which were no longer in service.

"This survey continues the trend that sees the majority of clients
moving into sustainable jobs, earning solid wages and becoming
self-reliant," Human Resources Minister Murray Coell said in the news
release.

"This is precisely the goal of B.C. Employment and Assistance: to assist
people
to move away from dependence and take control of their lives."

The government says that the poll's results confirm the findings of two
earlier
studies of former welfare recipients.

© Copyright  2003 CanWest Interactive, with files from Canadian Press __

Making ministries more accountable
Provincial government wants goals, objectives, and yes, even risk-taking
  Les Leyne
Times Colonist
February 27, 2003

All the provincial budget cuts and service reductions are one thing. But
the B.C. government has another thing going on, as well.

It's the restructuring of government and re-thinking of many of its
goals, conducted during the "core review" process. So many core reviews
led to budget cuts it is easy to think they are one and the same thing.
But they're not.

The reordering is based largely on a drive toward more accountability.
That emphasis is what brought about the three-year service plans for
nearly every different function of government.

And those plans are based on a renewed emphasis on "performance
measurement," the latest, greatest concept in public service management.

Brenda Eaton, the woman in overall charge of the core reviews as deputy
minister to the premier, spoke about the concept and how it is being
used in B.C. at a conference on Wednesday.

Eaton is a career civil servant who was a deputy in various ministries
and worked as a vice-president with the Capital Health Region before
being appointed to her current senior job with the B.C. Liberal
government.

Ministries now by law have to make public their intentions far beyond
simply how much money they plan to spend in the next year.

They have to state not only goals and objectives, but also the expected
results
and outcomes, not only for next year, but the subsequent two years as
well.

The Agriculture and Food Ministry, for example, now reports a goal of
lowering or at least maintaining the B.C. incidence of gastro-intestinal
illness per 100,000 population, which now stands at 132. What on earth
does that have to do
with Agriculture's $49 million? It's a key measure of the enforcement of
public
health standards relating to the food safety and quality control
systems.

Picking the right performance measurements is a remarkably complicated
business, and Eaton explained some of the factors that go into it. One
of the big hurdles to overcome was the fear that three-year service
plans based on firm performance measurements take away the
decision-making powers from politicians.

Eaton, who's been in government for 30 years, said that was a big fear
during one of the earlier iterations of performance measurement-based
government. (The
jargon changes every few years, but the over-riding trend over the past
decade has been toward more clarity about goals, who the customers are
and how the goals relate to them.)

Once the indicators are selected and the service plans are locked in, it
becomes tougher for ministers to make abrupt course changes.

Although they have loads of input in determining the plan, they have
less discretion in changing it.

Eaton said that explains some of the hesitancy in the early days of the
trend several years ago in accepting it. The government appears to have
banished that
fear and is embracing performance measurement concepts in a big way.

Eaton said it can also make life in the civil service easier.

Once the goals and the outputs and the outcomes are laid down,
management decision-makers can keep their eye on the ball, and not have
their days completely fractured by different and conflicting priorities.

She said it also addresses one of the big problems in the civil service:
the fear of taking risks.

That will never completely go away, she assured the audience. Good work
is routinely expected in government, and rarely hailed publicly.

On the other hand, the occasional mistake or botch which arise from
taking chances can have serious negative consequences.

But Eaton said governments can be a lot more confident in taking risks
if everyone is clear on the goals and how they are being measured.

Eaton said the key parts of the new approach since the election are: the
premier's letters to individual ministers outlining what's expected of
them, the independent B.C. Progress Board and its judgments on the data
being used to
measure the economy, the results-based measurement of outcomes, and the
compensation bonuses that are being paid to cabinet ministers and to
deputy ministers who deliver what was contracted.

(Ministers get their withheld salary returned simply for staying on
budget. Eaton said that's a narrow definition of performance and there
could be others,
"but it's a start.")

Just So You Know: One of the new ideas that Eaton mentioned -- the
premier's personal letter to each cabinet minister outlining exactly
what he expects of their ministries -- is getting attention from other
quarters.

Eaton said she got a call from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's
office, where they feel it is a very interesting concept and are
considering modelling something similar on the idea.

leyne at island.net

© Copyright  2003 Times Colonist (Victoria)
__

Hagen's action plan will not protect Broughton Archipelago pink salmon
Raincoast Conservation Society
February 26, 2003
http://www.raincoast.org/

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Today interim Fisheries Minister Stan Hagen
announced the provincial government's plan to protect pink salmon in the
Broughton Archipelago. Unfortunately the plan falls far short of what is
needed
to protect the region's wild salmon.

"Minister Hagen and the Liberal government have once again put the
interests of
multinational fish farm companies ahead of the interests of wild salmon
ecosystems," said Chris Genovali of Raincoast Conservation Society. "BC
does not have regulations for disease transfer or sea lice. Industry has
proposed regulations for BC that would allow ten times as many sea lice
as are allowed in Norway. The irony is that the primary company
proposing these
regulations is
Norwegian."

The province's proposed sea lice monitoring will not apply to 75 per
cent of the farms on the coast.

The typical treatment for sea lice, a parasitic crustacean, is the
pesticide SLICE or Emamectin benzoate, which has been shown to also be
harmful to other marine organisms. In a study published by the Canadian
Journal for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, SLICE was shown to cause
premature molting, failure to reproduce, and death in lobsters on the
east coast of Canada.

Similar impacts are predicted for species closely related to lobsters
including
prawns, crabs, and shrimp.

SLICE has been used on BC salmon farms for years without being approved
by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

"With today's announcement of the sea lice action plan in the Broughton
Archipelago Stan Hagen will be putting wild salmon at risk as well as
shrimp, prawns, and crab through the application of pesticides in open
net cages," said
Raincoast's Theresa Rothenbush. "This is not an acceptable long term
solution."

Because prawns are known to feed off fecal sediment and live in the deep
rocky areas where fish farms are situated, there is a risk of harvesting
prawns for human consumption that are contaminated with SLICE. The
pesticide has a long half life and will remain in the fecal sediment
under the farms for more than six months.

Contact: Chris Genovali or Theresa Rothenbush 250-655-1229
___

B.C. Liberal MLAs want to put cork back in their own liquor-law changes
Jim Beatty
Vancouver Sun
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id={1ECAFC8E-BFD9-426
0-B673-00D6B3F9792C}


cathywoods at shawlink.ca
www.creativeresistance.ca