Green Party to campaign on changes to MSP premiums
Posted January 8, 2016 12:02 am.
Last Updated January 8, 2016 12:06 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Green Party of BC is drawing attention to the fact our MSP premiums went up by four per cent on the first of January.
The party says reforming the way the premiums are collected will be something they will be campaigning for in the next provincial election.
The party says the problem is the same premiums are paid whether you’re in the $30,000 or $300,000 income bracket. Those under $30,000 get subsidized premiums.
Green Party MLA Andrew Weaver says they’re proposing to make the premiums based on income, which should lower the costs for both people and companies.
“There are obviously substantive savings. But it will also be savings for the businesses which are currently paying a portion of MSP premiums as an employee benefit.”
He says he likes the Ontario model, where MSP premiums are itemized on paycheque and pension stubs, then accounted for on income tax forms once a year.
“It’s embedded in your income tax return, just like CPP and EI are. It would not be a tax grab. The same amount of money would be collected as is now, but it would be done in a fairer way.”
He says that would do away with the need to mail out MSP invoices for those who don’t get coverage through an employer.
