10) PETITION DEMANDS TO END BC HEALTH PREMIUMS

 

PV Vancouver Bureau

 

            As of Feb. 9, over 65,400 British Columbians have signed an online petition to scrap one of the most regressive and unfair taxes collected by any provincial government in Canada. Launched in early January by Michelle Coulter, a resident of Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the petition demands the elimination of Medical Service Premiums (MSP).

 

            British Columbia is the last province to collect such flat tax premiums, which vary based on the size of a family. Single persons pay $75 per month, families of two pay $136, and a family of three or more pay $150. Those who earn less than $30,000 have to apply for assistance to pay a smaller amount. Families who earn $30,000 annually pay exactly the same amount as families with incomes in the millions of dollars.

 

            The petition was in response to the latest increase in MSP rates, which have jumped a staggering 39% since 2009. The annual premium of $900 ($75 per month) is now a tax totalling 3 percent of the income for a single person earning $30,000, but just 0.3 per cent of a single person who earns $300,000.

 

            This regressive tax has been pumped up regularly by the BC Liberal government, starting with a 50% increase in 2002. Since then, the MSP has become a major source of provincial revenue. In the 2014/2015 budget, revenue from MSP premiums was about $2.27 billion, compared to corporate income tax revenue estimates of $2.35 billion.

 

            The BC Health Coalition and other critics have long argued against the injustice, complexity and bureaucracy added by this additional tax collection system.

 

            Now, the opposition parties are urging major changes. Both Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and NDP leader John Horgan are calling on Premier Christy Clark to eliminate MSP premiums and follow the system adopted by many other provinces, by financing health care from income taxes.

 

            The premier’s initial response to the wave of public anger was to claim that she’s trying to find a way to make the collection of MSP premiums “work for everyone,” with details expected in the upcoming provincial budget.

 

            But BC Liberal budgets are infamous for finding ways to put the tax burden on low and medium income people, while giving huge breaks to the corporations and the wealthy.

 

            For example, tax transfers to individuals - programs like the sales tax credit, the early childhood tax benefit, the low income climate action benefit, the seniors home renovation tax credit – cost the BC government $460 million annually. That compares to $516 million in tax credits to corporations, according to research from the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

 

            Starvation-level social assistance and disability rates in BC have been frozen since 2007, at $610 and $906 per month respectively. There has been no change, even after the bi-partisan committee of MLAs who conducted last year’s pre-budget consultations unanimously recommended increases.

 

            The most recent BC budget won kudos for ending the claw-back on child support payments for single parents on welfare, a move which put an estimated $13 million in the hands of some of the poorest British Columbians. But the same budget gave the richest 2% of British Columbians $227 million - 17 times more - simply by phasing out the $150,000 tax bracket.

 

(The above article is from the February 15-29, 2016, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)