It really is about time Alberta updated its '60s health-card relic

It certainly wasn't the biggest item in the recent Alberta budget (closer to the smallest, perhaps) and it's not likely top of mind for a lot of Albertans at the moment. However, let's not allow that to be an excuse for any further inaction when it comes to dealing with Alberta's archaic and fragile paper health cards.

A change is long overdue and this time might actually be happening. In the 2019 election campaign, the UCP promised to roll the health cards into driver's licences or provincial photo identification cards, creating what they referred to as a “multi-use personal identification card.” The recent provincial budget earmarks $600,000 for a “registry system modernization,” which would fulfil that campaign promise.

I get that money is in short supply these days, and even six-figure expenditures might be tough to justify. This, however, seems like a pretty reasonable cost for replacing a system whose best-before date was several decades ago.

It was 1969 that Alberta first introduced the paper cards and while the world has changed dramatically since then, the cards really have not. In essence, we still have what we had 50 years ago: a flimsy paper card with our heathcare number, our name, and our birthdate.

(Yes, the reverse of the card is intended to be an organ donation card. There are, though, more reliable ways now to register as a donor than a paper card that can easily deteriorate).

The paper health card is hardly a reliable form of identification, especially by today's standards. There is no bar code to be scanned and no other way that the card itself is able to provide any useful information. And yet, Albertans are expected to produce it. Having your number memorized or written on your hand or entered into your phone is just as useful, given that any discrepancy over the legitimacy of the number would be resolved by meaningful photo identification.

It's not just that the card is superfluous in that sense, then — it also speaks to the security vulnerabilities that such an instrument of simplicity represents. There's a reason why our driver's licences are dramatically different than they were in the 1960s. It would have been a tall order indeed to fabricate a knock-off Alberta health card in those days. Today, it wouldn't be hard at all.

Two previous Alberta auditors general have flagged these specific concerns. That alone should be a sufficient basis for abandoning this outdated status quo.

Back in 2004, a report from auditor general Fred Dunn cited a high number of duplicate cards in circulation and warned that those cards could serve as “foundation documents” to create false identities or they could be used to unlawfully obtain prescription narcotics.

Eleven years later, auditor general Merwan Saher cautioned that the “risk of misuse of what I'm calling a sort of health credit card needs to be quantified and needs to be managed.” As an example, he pointed to the lack of expiry dates on the card and warned that individuals who no longer live in Alberta may still be using them.

It's easy to see the flaws and the vulnerabilities and the annoyance of our current system, but it's really hard to see the benefits. Does anyone think for a moment that any other province would consider emulating Alberta in this regard?

We could create a new, updated separate health card, but it probably makes sense to just include the number in our existing provincial identification. Obviously, the number is required for health service or treatment but the information associated with that number needs to match the person obtaining the service or treatment. Combining the number with our existing ID is the simplest approach.

Either way, good riddance to these dilapidated dinosaurs.

“Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge” airs weekdays 12:30-3:30 p.m. on 770 CHQR rob.breakenridge@corusent.com. Twitter: @Robbreakenridge

In essence, we still have what we had 50 years ago: a flimsy paper card.