Cost of driver medical exams for seniors is an undue hardship, says Phillips

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 17, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Alberta NDP Finance Critic and MLA for Lethbridge-West Shannon Phillips was joined by local senior citizen Tom Walton Tuesday to call on the UCP government to stop charging seniors for mandatory driver medical exams.

Phillips said the high cost of living is having a significant impact on the quality of life for many Albertans, for those on fixed or lower incomes. Paying the bills or putting food on the table is a real struggle.

“Inflation has hit a 40 year high, but instead of focusing on helping Albertans through these challenging times the UCP has chosen to do the opposite and make life more expensive for Alberta families,” said Phillips.

In 2020, the UCP government made changes to physician compensation policies that no longer allowed doctors to bill the government for seniors’ driver medical exams which are mandatory for Albertans at age 75, age 80, and every two years after that. 

“It meant that seniors who want to continue to drive must pay $85 or more for that exam, on top of that there’s the license renewal fee which can range from $21 to $93 depending on the length of renewal,” said Phillips.

Local senior Tom Walton said those costs add up making life challenging for those on a fixed income.

“It is important to know that this is not a doctor-imposed fee but rather provincial government, most doctors are not too happy about having to charge seniors on a fixed income for something that was previously covered by the government,” said Walton.

Previously, the Government of Alberta covered the cost of the exams for approximately 45,000 seniors every year. Now, under the UCP, seniors pay $85 or more for the exam.

He said energy costs, high cost of fuel, rising food costs, transportation costs, and medication costs amongst other things, become part of a list of goods and services that present hardships for seniors.

“My wife and I, along with thousands of Albertans, are being bombarded with all kinds of increases that significantly strain our budgets,” said Walton.

Phillips said Albertans are paying more income tax as inflation goes up, but seniors benefits do not keep pace with inflation, so their incomes go down over time.

“Every year Albertans are paying more income tax and getting fewer benefits. They have seen hikes in school fees, car insurance premiums, camping fees, post-secondary tuition, electricity prices and so much more,” said Phillips.

She said that with an election coming up should the Alberta NDP be fortunate enough to form the next government, they will stop gouging seniors.

“We will fix this. We will make sure no senior has to pay out of pocket for these medicals,” said Phillips.

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