618 Alberta Hansard April 14, 2009
Delisting of Medical Services
Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The health minister wants to cut gender reassignment surgery and chiropractic care from public health care. He seems to think that he can create a political precedent for delisting by going after people and services that are most vulnerable; for instance, where there is a high level of public misunderstanding, as with gender reassignment surgery. To the minister of health. You’ve already admitted it in the media. Why won’t you admit here today that these cuts are just one more step towards dismantling the public health system and bringing more U.S. private health care to Alberta?
Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I remember that before the Easter break the leader of the third party talked about – I believe his quote was “a dishonest budget.” We’ve heard two questions today from these two sitting in the corner, and both of them have been dishonest questions.
Ms Notley: Mr. Speaker, I don’t know what he’s talking about, but
maybe he could raise it sometime. A 2004 government study concluded that doctors should recommend spinal manipulation to their low-back patients as part of their medical care; in short, a medically necessary treatment. The AMA says that gender reassignment surgery is an effective treatment for people who suffer from gender identity disorder; in short, a medically necessary treatment. To the minister: why won’t you protect our public health system instead of coming up with more and more ways to sell it off to your friends in the insurance industry?
Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, if our publicly funded health care system isn’t sustainable in the future, we won’t have one. We’ll have exactly what these two keep talking about, and that is private-sector health care. This government is the one that is preserving our publicly funded health care system, not the status quo.
Ms Notley: Mr. Speaker, this government gives more than $700,000 to their high-paid staff in one year than they give to these people that need this treatment. The fundamental health of many transgendered Albertans hinges on gender reassignment surgery, and by denying that, this government could be complicit in raising their risk of depression and suicide. Delisting the surgery trims a tiny fraction from the health budget but slashes at the very foundation of human rights. To the minister: isn’t it enough that you’re already ripping apart our public health system? Why are you trampling on people’s human rights while you’re at it?
View the question period and the full transcript at the following link at 51 minutes – 16 seconds (51:16)
http://media.assembly.ab.ca/ArchiveVideo/200904141325_Video.asf
Showing posts with label Rachel Notley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rachel Notley. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Province retreats on sex changes
Edmonton Sun, Canada
Wed, April 15, 2009
Province retreats on sex changes
By KERRY DIOTTE, LEGISLATURE BUREAU CHIEF
The province is bending a bit on cancelling gender-bender surgery.
Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said yesterday the province won't
snip sex-change operations out of this year's budget to save $700,000
as previously announced.
Liepert announced that in question period as more than two dozen
transsexuals and their supporters watched from the public gallery.
The minister told the House 26 Albertans are now "in the program" and
their surgery will be covered.
A further 20 people who hadn't been scheduled for surgery but were on
a waiting list for funding will now also be paid for, but the
procedure won't be funded next fiscal year, he indicated.
Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell says that means the government
will have to come up with extra cash in the soon-to-be-passed 2009-10
budget to pay for the sex-change operations that can cost between
$18,000 and $70,000 and are performed in Montreal.
Opposition MLAs accused the government of trying to save money by
picking on a small minority group that's been told by physicians their
surgery is medically necessary. But Liepert said his ministry had to
make tough choices.
TOUGH DECISIONS
"This was not based on medical decisions," said Liepert. "This was
based on a number of programs we had to make ... There were some very
tough decisions that had to be made, everything from cancelling some
programs around youth suicide prevention to programs around certain
surgeries."
Edmonton Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman argued the province will
likely waste more cash than it will save by chopping the sex-change
procedure from next year's budget because government lawyers will have
to defend human rights challenges.
Click here to find out more!
Transsexuals have vowed to file numerous complaints as early as today
to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission.
HUMAN RIGHTS
A human rights challenge in Ontario saw that province forced to
reinstate coverage of sex-change operations.
Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley says Alberta will come off
as looking like rednecks nationally because it cancelled funding for
sex changes to save a small amount of money. That's exactly the
opposite of a recent rebranding program that boasts that Alberta is
open and tolerant, she said.
"This is an attack on the most vulnerable," Notley told Sun Media.
Because of the government's decision, "we will continue to look like a
backward group of folks to the rest of the country ... That's not how
Albertans are."
Premier Ed Stelmach said it was "fair and reasonable," that Liepert
extend the sex-change operation program for one year.
Axcella Zelensky said she already had her publicly funded operation in
January but was at the legislature to fight to see others continue to
have access to publicly funded sex changes.
"I was actually planning in the next little while to send a thank-you
card to the government, but I'm not sure whether I can anymore," she
told Sun Media.
Surgeries are a necessity, she said. "We never chose to be born into
the wrong body."
KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright € ¦© 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2009/04/15/9116406-sun.html
Wed, April 15, 2009
Province retreats on sex changes
By KERRY DIOTTE, LEGISLATURE BUREAU CHIEF
The province is bending a bit on cancelling gender-bender surgery.
Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said yesterday the province won't
snip sex-change operations out of this year's budget to save $700,000
as previously announced.
Liepert announced that in question period as more than two dozen
transsexuals and their supporters watched from the public gallery.
The minister told the House 26 Albertans are now "in the program" and
their surgery will be covered.
A further 20 people who hadn't been scheduled for surgery but were on
a waiting list for funding will now also be paid for, but the
procedure won't be funded next fiscal year, he indicated.
Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell says that means the government
will have to come up with extra cash in the soon-to-be-passed 2009-10
budget to pay for the sex-change operations that can cost between
$18,000 and $70,000 and are performed in Montreal.
Opposition MLAs accused the government of trying to save money by
picking on a small minority group that's been told by physicians their
surgery is medically necessary. But Liepert said his ministry had to
make tough choices.
TOUGH DECISIONS
"This was not based on medical decisions," said Liepert. "This was
based on a number of programs we had to make ... There were some very
tough decisions that had to be made, everything from cancelling some
programs around youth suicide prevention to programs around certain
surgeries."
Edmonton Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman argued the province will
likely waste more cash than it will save by chopping the sex-change
procedure from next year's budget because government lawyers will have
to defend human rights challenges.
Click here to find out more!
Transsexuals have vowed to file numerous complaints as early as today
to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission.
HUMAN RIGHTS
A human rights challenge in Ontario saw that province forced to
reinstate coverage of sex-change operations.
Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley says Alberta will come off
as looking like rednecks nationally because it cancelled funding for
sex changes to save a small amount of money. That's exactly the
opposite of a recent rebranding program that boasts that Alberta is
open and tolerant, she said.
"This is an attack on the most vulnerable," Notley told Sun Media.
Because of the government's decision, "we will continue to look like a
backward group of folks to the rest of the country ... That's not how
Albertans are."
Premier Ed Stelmach said it was "fair and reasonable," that Liepert
extend the sex-change operation program for one year.
Axcella Zelensky said she already had her publicly funded operation in
January but was at the legislature to fight to see others continue to
have access to publicly funded sex changes.
"I was actually planning in the next little while to send a thank-you
card to the government, but I'm not sure whether I can anymore," she
told Sun Media.
Surgeries are a necessity, she said. "We never chose to be born into
the wrong body."
KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright € ¦© 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2009/04/15/9116406-sun.html
Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility
Calgary Herald - AB, Canada
Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com
April 14, 2009
EDMONTON € ’· Health Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday nearly twice as
many people will be eligible for government-funded gender reassignment
surgeries before the province stops paying for the service to save
money.
Last week, when the government announced cutting the program would
save roughly $700,000 a year, Liepert said the 26 people already on
the list to get the surgery would still be funded. On Tuesday, he
added roughly 20 people who have already begun paying for their own
hormonal medication in preparation for gender reassignment.
€ ’³It would not be right for us to now say, € ’±Well, you€ ’²ve spent all this
money, we€ ’²re now going to change the rules,€ ’² € ’´ Liepert said. € ’³It seems
to me to be unfair to have someone believe that a certain surgery was
going to take place, dug into their pockets for hormonal drugs that
were prescribed by the medical community, and somehow we don€ ’²t follow
through on it.€ ’´
The minister said he made the decision to expand the list of people
being funded based on media reports over the weekend that highlighted
the concerns of people on waiting lists who cannot afford procedures
that run as high as $80,000. With about three dozen people who support
the transgendered community or are waiting for gender reassignment
surgeries watching from the gallery, Liepert side-stepped questions of
human rights during Tuesday afternoon€ ’²s question period at the
legislature.
Last May, a 10-year battle to reinstate public funding for gender
reassignment surgeries came to a close in Ontario, when that
province€ ’²s human rights commission found the decision to cut the
program discriminatory. Liepert and Premier Ed Stelmach emphasized
cutting funding for sex change surgeries comes down to a line-by-line
analysis of the budget.
€ ’³We€ ’²re just saying the taxpayers will be no longer funding this
particular surgery,€ ’´ Stelmach said. € ’³If you€ ’²re speculating on the fact
that some people may challenge the government decision under (the)
Alberta Human Rights Commission, then we€ ’²ll see what happens.€ ’´
Members of the transgendered community are expected to file human
rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton today. Edmonton-Centre
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman said the province has set itself up for
the kind of long-haul legal wrangling Ontario experienced.
€ ’³It was a very long battle and a very, very expensive battle, and one
that I would hope this government would be smart enough not to get
involved in,€ ’´ she said. € ’³And they just walked right into it.€ ’´
Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley suggested the government
€ ’³back up, calm down, (and) do the right thing.€ ’´
€ ’³This is a black eye for this government if they actively try to stop
these folks from getting the services they need.€ ’´
The Journal learned Monday Alberta€ ’²s handling of the issue has even
drawn the attention of daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Jamie-Lynn Garvin, a 47-year-old who has been living as a woman for
the last two years while waiting for her gender reassignment
operation, has become the face of the debate in the last week. She
told her story to media outlets and spoke to her MLA, St. Albert
Conservative Ken Allred, who now has questions about the plan to
delist funding. On Tuesday, Allred asked Liepert whether he was aware
the surgeries are funded by other provinces.
€ ’³We could get into a long debate about what is funded in other
provinces and what is funded in Alberta,€ ’´ Liepert answered.
Garvin said the news Liepert would be expanding funding to those still
on the waiting list was € ’³fantastic€ ’´ € ’· if it pans out.
€ ’³I€ ’²m not 18 years old. I€ ’²ve been around the block more than once, and
I€ ’²ve heard a lot of things come out of politicians€ ’² mouths,€ ’´ she said.
€ ’³It€ ’²s a $40,000 announcement for me, if it€ ’²s true. (But) there€ ’²s a lot
of things that can happen between what he just said and when it comes
down to what Alberta Health finally tell us.€ ’´
taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+says+Alberta+health+minister/1495792/story.html
Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com
April 14, 2009
EDMONTON € ’· Health Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday nearly twice as
many people will be eligible for government-funded gender reassignment
surgeries before the province stops paying for the service to save
money.
Last week, when the government announced cutting the program would
save roughly $700,000 a year, Liepert said the 26 people already on
the list to get the surgery would still be funded. On Tuesday, he
added roughly 20 people who have already begun paying for their own
hormonal medication in preparation for gender reassignment.
€ ’³It would not be right for us to now say, € ’±Well, you€ ’²ve spent all this
money, we€ ’²re now going to change the rules,€ ’² € ’´ Liepert said. € ’³It seems
to me to be unfair to have someone believe that a certain surgery was
going to take place, dug into their pockets for hormonal drugs that
were prescribed by the medical community, and somehow we don€ ’²t follow
through on it.€ ’´
The minister said he made the decision to expand the list of people
being funded based on media reports over the weekend that highlighted
the concerns of people on waiting lists who cannot afford procedures
that run as high as $80,000. With about three dozen people who support
the transgendered community or are waiting for gender reassignment
surgeries watching from the gallery, Liepert side-stepped questions of
human rights during Tuesday afternoon€ ’²s question period at the
legislature.
Last May, a 10-year battle to reinstate public funding for gender
reassignment surgeries came to a close in Ontario, when that
province€ ’²s human rights commission found the decision to cut the
program discriminatory. Liepert and Premier Ed Stelmach emphasized
cutting funding for sex change surgeries comes down to a line-by-line
analysis of the budget.
€ ’³We€ ’²re just saying the taxpayers will be no longer funding this
particular surgery,€ ’´ Stelmach said. € ’³If you€ ’²re speculating on the fact
that some people may challenge the government decision under (the)
Alberta Human Rights Commission, then we€ ’²ll see what happens.€ ’´
Members of the transgendered community are expected to file human
rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton today. Edmonton-Centre
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman said the province has set itself up for
the kind of long-haul legal wrangling Ontario experienced.
€ ’³It was a very long battle and a very, very expensive battle, and one
that I would hope this government would be smart enough not to get
involved in,€ ’´ she said. € ’³And they just walked right into it.€ ’´
Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley suggested the government
€ ’³back up, calm down, (and) do the right thing.€ ’´
€ ’³This is a black eye for this government if they actively try to stop
these folks from getting the services they need.€ ’´
The Journal learned Monday Alberta€ ’²s handling of the issue has even
drawn the attention of daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Jamie-Lynn Garvin, a 47-year-old who has been living as a woman for
the last two years while waiting for her gender reassignment
operation, has become the face of the debate in the last week. She
told her story to media outlets and spoke to her MLA, St. Albert
Conservative Ken Allred, who now has questions about the plan to
delist funding. On Tuesday, Allred asked Liepert whether he was aware
the surgeries are funded by other provinces.
€ ’³We could get into a long debate about what is funded in other
provinces and what is funded in Alberta,€ ’´ Liepert answered.
Garvin said the news Liepert would be expanding funding to those still
on the waiting list was € ’³fantastic€ ’´ € ’· if it pans out.
€ ’³I€ ’²m not 18 years old. I€ ’²ve been around the block more than once, and
I€ ’²ve heard a lot of things come out of politicians€ ’² mouths,€ ’´ she said.
€ ’³It€ ’²s a $40,000 announcement for me, if it€ ’²s true. (But) there€ ’²s a lot
of things that can happen between what he just said and when it comes
down to what Alberta Health finally tell us.€ ’´
taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+says+Alberta+health+minister/1495792/story.html
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