Conservatives pressure Liberal government to limit health care for some refugee claimants

MPs in the House of Commons will vote on Tuesday on a Conservative motion that calls on the Liberal government to review health care benefits available to asylum claimants and restrict benefits for those whose claims have failed.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner’s opposition day motion also puts pressure on the Liberal government to “pass urgent policies”. expel foreign nationals Convicted of a serious crime in Canada.”

Rempel Garner said she wanted health care provided to failed claimants to be limited to only “emergency, life-saving health care.” A similar move by the Harper government in 2012.

Refugees in Canada receive health care from the federal government through the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which covers most of the medical care Canadians receive under their provincial or territorial health services.

The basic services provided by IFHP include access to hospitals, doctors, ambulances and lab diagnostic services, such as blood tests and ultrasound.

Supplemental coverage includes access to counseling, occupational therapists, prosthetics and mobility aids, urgent dental care and limited vision care. among others.

Rempel Garner says this supplemental coverage is a step too far because it pays for things that are not covered for Canadians in the public health-care system.

“Unsuccessful asylum claimants, people who made refugee claims but had their claims invalidated through the Canadian due process, have been given access to better health care than Canadians,” said Rempel Garner.

He also pointed to the rising annual costs of the IFHP, which the government has pegged at around $900 million annually in 2025-26.

The rising costs of refugee health care

a fresh Report from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) found that between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the cost of the program increased from $211 million to $896 million “as both the number of beneficiaries and the cost per beneficiary increased significantly.”

That report estimates the cost of the program will rise to $1.5 billion annually by 2029–30.

The PBO said that while the total cost of IFHPs will continue to rise between 2025-26 and 2029-30, the growth rate in those years will exceed 11 percent, compared with an average annual increase in costs of about 34 percent over the previous five years.

“This slow growth reflects both moderate growth in the number of beneficiaries and a more gradual increase in average annual costs,” the report said.

This is an administrative problem, not a refugee health problem-NDP MP Jenny Cowan

The report did not take into account cost-saving measures coming this spring.

A copayment system It will go into effect May 1 and will require people receiving care under IFHP to pay $4 for each eligible prescription and 30 percent of the cost of all other supplemental health services.

If people withdraw or abandon their claim or if the claim is deemed ineligible and is not eligible to enter the appeals process, they may lose coverage.

IFHP also provides health care to refugee claimants outside Canada who have been approved but need vaccinations or medical assistance for their journey.

A major reason for the dramatic increase in IFHP costs in recent years is the increasing number of asylum claims. About 19,000 claims were filed in Canada in 2020 but that will increase to more than 190,000 by 2024. There was a significant decline last year Because Canada only saw 83,000 claims from January to September.

However, a backlog of approximately 300,000 claims in the system means that the costs of the IFHP system are still rising. Rempel Garner says that’s because many of those claims will take years to process, and in the meantime Canadians are paying for health care for people who could ultimately be removed from the country for filing ineligible claims.

Immigration Minister Lina Metlej Diab suggested several measures In Bill C-12The bill, which passed the House and is currently in the Senate, gives the government powers it says will help it reject ineligible applications more quickly.

“I am very eager to implement the immigration provisions that are in that bill,” Diab said as he walked into parliament.

He said the bill’s measures “will help us secure our border, but also ensure that we reduce asylum numbers by curbing the number of people coming and making fraudulent claims, (while) also protecting those who are truly vulnerable and need the protection of Canada.”

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre asked Prime Minister Mark Carney if he would support the Conservative motion during question period in the House of Commons.

Poilievre said, “The prime minister claims he has (immigration and asylum) under control but it’s all an illusion. He’s just another liberal.” “Refugee claims have increased 3,000 per cent under his out-of-control system. Will he rein it in, support our motion and put Canadians first for change?”

Carney said asylum claims have increased in the roughly one year since he took office one third downstudent visa is done 60 percent reduction and the number of temporary foreign workers has been Cut in half.

“We have the immigration system under control and we are delivering the health care that Canadians need,” he said.

Echoing Harper’s 2012 cuts

NDP MP Jenny Cowan told the House of Commons during debate on the motion Tuesday that IFHP’s skyrocketing costs are related to the backlog of cases and refugees should not bear the brunt of those delays.

“This is an administrative problem, not a refugee health problem,” he said. “The solution is clear: (a) expedite the claims process in a fair and timely manner.”

Under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Conservative government cut almost all supplemental health care benefits under the IFHP – limiting care to those that were deemed urgent or necessary.

The changes cut care for refugees from specific countries of origin who were considered safe and claimants whose applications were unsuccessful. Coverage areas that were cut included prescriptions, dentist visits, vision care and mobility assistance.

The Federal Court struck down the changes, saying that the government’s treatment of refugees was “cruel and unusual”. harper’s government Promised to appeal the decision in 2014But the appeal was withdrawn when the Liberals won the 2015 federal election. Services have been restored.

“This proposal is very worrying and reflects the efforts to take away health care from refugees that the (Conservative Party of Canada) government tried to do in 2012,” said Gauri Srinivasan, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

“These are measures that have been rejected by the courts, have been rejected by Canadian doctors and have been rejected by Canadians,” he said.