MSP premiums in need of remedy, say critics

The movement to scrap Medical Services Plan premiums continues to gain traction.

B.C. is the only remaining province that collects flat-rate premiums, which are dependent on family size and income.

Based on the current system, households making less than $22,000 pay nothing, while a family of three or more making more than $30,000 pays $150 each month, up from $144 in 2014. But that $150 rate also applies to those who earn millions, which has led to calls for a change in how MSP funding is collected.

Pete Fry, B.C. Green party candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, said his party is pushing for reform of the current system.

“It’s sort of one size fits all for a fairly large income segment,” Fry said.

“What we’re saying is that it really should be more means tested and tied to your actual income, so that the individual making $30,000 a year is not paying the same as somebody who is earning $3 million a year.”

Fry said his party would introduce a progressive system that bases rates on earnings by rolling premiums into income tax.

An online petition created three weeks ago, “Abolish MSP premiums in B.C.,” had drawn 50,000 signatures by Thursday afternoon.

“Since MSP premiums are a form of tax, they should be assessed by the standard criteria for taxation policy,” wrote the petition’s creator, Michelle Coulter.

Coulter is calling for B.C. to “follow the rest of the country” by ditching its premiums.

Alberta eliminated premiums in 2009 and introduced a new health-care contribution levy in 2015.

Ontario scrapped premiums in 1990 and added an income tax surcharge in 2004.