Status First Nations people in B.C. will begin health coverage under a tailored version of provincial pharmacare system on Sunday, marking the first time a province takes over health care coverage for that group.
Since 1979, First Nations people in B.C. have been covered under Canada Health鈥檚 Non-Insured Health Benefits program, which provides coverage for prescription medications, dental and medical supplies.
Grand Chief Doug Kelly, president of the Sto:lo Tribal Council in Chilliwack, said bringing the healthcare plan under the First Nations Health Authority will allow coverage to be focused on what those in B.C. need.
鈥淲hat we often find, is governments will often fight over who pays for what,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淲hat we do with this decision to take ourselves away from the national program, is there鈥檚 no longer a fight over who will pay for prescription drugs. Pharmacare will be the only payer.鈥�
The new benefits plan will affect 143,000 health authority clients.
The FNHA version of Pharmacare, called 鈥淧lan W,鈥� will be slightly different than that of the rest of the province.
Because many First Nations people don鈥檛 file income taxes, Kelly said, many don鈥檛 meet the proper requirements for Pharmacare.
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鈥淢ost Indigenous folks are impoverished, barely getting by,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, for us, income testing doesn鈥檛 work. The way it鈥檚 done for other British Columbians is by the filing of income tax returns. Many of our folks are so poor they don鈥檛 file income tax forms.鈥�
FNHA clients who need prescription medications will instead have to provide their status card and care card and will receive their prescription medication for free, covered by Pharmacare.
The differences behind the scenes have been a long time coming, according to Kelly, who鈥檚 advocated for 30 years for a provincial-based plan.
In 2006, then-premier Gordon Campbell said all health services delivered by the province would be made available to all British Columbians. In 2011, the First Nations Health Authority was created, and began delivering services in 2013.
This new Pharmacare plan will be tweaked based on concerns and issues that may arise around access and implementation, Kelly said.
鈥淭he chiefs told us if you鈥檙e going to do this, then you do a better job,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not good enough to take over the work the government once did for us, you鈥檝e got to do a better job.鈥�
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