2023 Alberta Provincial Election MEGA THREAD

[DonJuan]

^ On my commute home today in traffic I will smile with the knowledge that my ass has a near 0% chance of being stabbed.

[bjstare]

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lol. Transit

Word. I'll never take a bus or train in this city again.

Well, actually, maybe once more when my kids are a little older and acting spoiled, which they will, I'll take them for a trip on the ol' hobo express to remind them how good they have it.

[jutes]

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How much money can Danielle offer to throw at the City before the election.... so fiscally conservative..

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...ayor-1.6652311

Free one-way tickets for the meth heads and homeless to Banff?

[ExtraSlow]

I send my kids on public transit every morning. Toughen then up.

[kertejud2]

Just build the damn trains! Who even cares which one would be best at this point. Any train would be better than nothing.

Remember, the only way to reduce traffic is to reduce the number of cars on the road. If you want less traffic, you want trains and dedicated bus routes and separated cycle tracks and everything else that can pull somebody out of a car.

[Buster]

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lol. Transit

It can't be worse than Air Canada economy class, can it?

Can it?

[killramos]

I am a man of the people who has experienced this first hand.

It can. It really can.

[ThePenIsMightier]

LoL now the AM Radio Host has fired the entire Alberta Health Services Board.

I'm sure they're crushed! Receiving their full contacts, again, and soon to be re-hired in advisory positions for more money before their contacts would've expired.

[ExtraSlow]

[killramos]

We do need a better class of criminals

[ExtraSlow]

I am THIS CLOSE to becoming the villain..
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High hopes for 2023.

[rage2]

Not sure if this is worthy of a new thread or not. Keep hearing people bitch about Danielle Smith, UCP, and privatizing health care and we're going to end up paying for our own treatments. I mean I'm not a fan of her, but I throw in Health Care Act of Canada only provides funding for single pay healthcare to throw those people off and pretty much end the discussion. There's no response. I feel like the NDP camp is feeding and parroting pretty much fake news against the UCP. Seems to be pretty successful based on random people that brings up politics.

Anyone have insights on the legitimacy of these claims? I don't bother with local politics, but guess it's time to do some reading.

[finboy]

I’m just waiting for the election so I can enjoy the meltdown on r/calgary and r/alberta

[Tik-Tok]

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Health Care Act of Canada only provides funding for single pay healthcare

I would assume it's to eventually get off of Federal Health Transfers to make more arguments against paying into federal transfers.

[2Legit2Quit]

Most of the rah rah going around the past few days is the basis that she's starting to push for the $375 healthcare spending account and she had released a paper and video last year talking about how she wants to implement the healthcare spending account and pull back on public healthcare services.

Feels like she wants berta to become murica 2.0 as best she can along with the vendetta of hating Trudeau and all the crazy anti vax shit.

Too much of a smorgasbord of crazy and shit I don't agree with. I'd expect she back pedals as much as she can but if did some how retain leadership after the next election it'll be buckle up we're going full retard.

[rage2]

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I would assume it's to eventually get off of Federal Health Transfers to make more arguments against paying into federal transfers.

I think you'd need to get off the federal transfers before turning down billions there.

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Most of the rah rah going around the past few days is the basis that she's starting to push for the $375 healthcare spending account and she had released a paper and video last year talking about how she wants to implement the healthcare spending account and pull back on public healthcare services.

Feels like she wants berta to become murica 2.0 as best she can along with the vendetta of hating Trudeau and all the crazy anti vax shit.

Too much of a smorgasbord of crazy and shit I don't agree with. I'd expect she back pedals as much as she can but if did some how retain leadership after the next election it'll be buckle up we're going full retard.

Thanks for this, I looked up the paper in question, and I think it answered some of my questions. Paper is here:

https://www.policyschool.ca/wp-conte...nges_Smith.pdf

Quick glance, the health care spending account is referenced here:

USER FEES

The next step in closing the gap is to generate $4 billion from new user fees.

We can no longer afford universal social programs that are 100 per cent paid by taxpayers. That is the simple truth. Taxpayers do not want to throw more money at an inefficient system. Public servants don’t want to reform the system from within. The only option is to allow people to use more of their own money to pay their own way and use the power of innovation to deliver better services at a lower cost.

The fundamental rethink that needs to happen in health care is to create a patient- centred system. It has to be more than a slogan. It has to have buy-in on the part of practitioners and patients. It has to be built on a model that is already working. It has to shift the burden of payment away from taxpayers and toward private individuals, their employers and their insurance companies.

I'm assuming this is what people are going crazy about? Quick look on reddit has this quote referenced everywhere.

Past that point, it talks about the spending account itself:

What the government needs to do is create matching Health Spending Accounts for all Albertans. The government should pledge to match up to $375 per person and challenge individuals and employers to do the same. The benefit of a Health Spending Account is that it allows people the means to pay for services that are uncovered and largely preventative – massage therapy, physiotherapy, dieticians, prescriptions and so on. By taking responsibility for their health and giving people the means to do so, it should translate into less pressure on the hospital system and better chronic care management which will bring costs down.

So really, this is actually better than what we have today. If you don't have work insurance, you're paying for these things on your own anyways. If you have work insurance and spending accounts, it gets matched up to $375.

The next part of the article is a bit more out there.

But once people get used to the concept of paying out of pocket for more things themselves then we can change the conversation on health care. Instead of asking, what services will the government delist?, we would instead be asking what services are paid for directly by government, and what services are paid for out of your Health Spending Account?

My view is that the entire budget for general practitioners should be paid for from Health Spending Accounts. If the government funded the account at $375 a year, that’s the equivalent of 10 trips to a GP, so there can be no argument that this would compromise access on the basis of ability to pay.

What it would do is allow for people to make their own choices about the type of medical practitioner they want to see in a year. Maybe I would prefer to see a dietician to give me a nutrition tune-up. Maybe I need to see a psychologist to deal with the mental stress of lockdown for the last year. Perhaps the pain in my shoulder can be better treated by a physiotherapist. For parents with healthy kids but crooked teeth, it could even be used to help defray the cost of braces. Or help cover the costs to fill a cavity.

A Health Spending Account would actually create a system with more comprehensive coverage than it currently has now.

I don't think what people are getting up in arms about is even possible. Moving GP from single payer isn't possible without giving up the Health Care Transfers. That said, I see what she's trying to get at, that a spending account that's funded by the government at $375pp helps people take care of themselves better, more preventative. The GP ideology is the only really thing wacky about it, otherwise, I'm on board with everyone having access to a spending account.

Next bit is interesting, because everyone is screaming we're turning into the US while it literally states we don't want to be them:

But we could take it one step further.

I think is time to redefine universality. Universality must mean that no one is denied care when they need it and no one should face bankruptcy because of medical bills. Full stop.

Then there's changing the system into a fully funded insurance program, with no deductibles for poor, and as much as $1000 for the wealthy.

It does not mean that we must maintain a system of arbitrary rules for what you must pay for out of your own pocket and what government must pay for exclusively on your behalf.
We should begin to talk about creating a publicly administered health insurance system based on principles of proper insurance. In a proper insurance program, there is usually a deductible or co-payment on services until it reaches a certain maximum when catastrophic coverage kicks in.

If we establish the principle of Health Spending Accounts, then we can also establish co-payments. It doesn’t need to be onerous, and it could be on a sliding scale. If you earn less than $75,000 a year, there would be no deductible. If you earn $75,000 to $150,000 a year, there would be a $500 deductible. If you earn more than $150,000 a year, there would be a $1000 deductible.

I mean this is shit she wrote before she had any powers. I also don't think it's what's being portrayed and there's mass hysteria from headline readers. I'm certainly not one to judge if it would work or not, or if there's any savings to be had, but we're not turning into the US system as being portrayed. I do like some of the ideas though.

Anyways, just wanted to understand the rhetoric going around. Feels weird where you can't really get around fake news from any sides without needing to read a little more. Everything is so out of context these days.

[Buster]

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Most of the rah rah going around the past few days is the basis that she's starting to push for the $375 healthcare spending account and she had released a paper and video last year talking about how she wants to implement the healthcare spending account and pull back on public healthcare services.

Feels like she wants berta to become murica 2.0 as best she can along with the vendetta of hating Trudeau and all the crazy anti vax shit.

Too much of a smorgasbord of crazy and shit I don't agree with. I'd expect she back pedals as much as she can but if did some how retain leadership after the next election it'll be buckle up we're going full retard.

You're saying all of this like it's a bad thing.

Sign me up!

[bjstare]

TIL earning >$150k/yr means a person is wealthy.

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You're saying all of this like it's a bad thing.

Sign me up!

Haha, no shit. Sounds great.

[ExtraSlow]

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TIL earning >$150k/yr means a person is wealthy.

So wealthy you must be punished

[rage2]

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TIL earning >$150k/yr means a person is wealthy.

Figure I might piss someone off calling that middle class.