Health card delays are unacceptable

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2023 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The most important item in a Manitoban’s wallet is a piece of paper as flimsy as the beer tickets sold at summer music festivals.

Yet the Manitoba Health card is so valuable the province advises Manitobans to not leave home without it.

That is, if they’re able to get one.

That sad reality has become a frustrating hurdle for new Manitobans, whether they’ve arrived here from outside of Canada or if they’ve moved here from another province.

A backlog in processing provincial paperwork has meant those who have applied for a Manitoba Health card have had to wait months to receive one.

A provincial website says Manitoba Health is processing applications received June 12, when leaves were still on the trees.

The health card states coverage may be affected if an address change isn’t reported, but Manitoba Health is still processing demographic changes made in June, the website says, even for Manitobans who have lived here all their lives.

The delays in getting the health card, which allows Manitoba residents access to health benefits bestowed to them under the Health Services Insurance Act, parallel the interminable waits Manitobans face when they seek care in hospital emergency rooms, diagnostic tests and many surgical procedures.

Those include hip and knee replacements, some of which are performed outside the province to address a month’s-long backlog that was already a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic forced Manitoba Health to halt more than 1,700 surgeries during 10 months in 2020 and 2021.

The health-card holdup also mirrors the delays Manitobans face when they seek birth and death certificates and what many Canadians confront when they apply for employment insurance benefits or for a passport.

While Manitoba Health has turned to the private sector to perform blood tests, vaccinations and other health services, it remains the sole provider of the health cards.

The health card opens the door to treatment in doctor’s clinics, blood tests, vaccinations, eye examinations and physiotherapy appointments.

The holdup creates bottlenecks all the way down the bureaucratic food chain. People who haven’t received their health cards who need health care seek treatment in emergency departments instead of doctors’ clinics, adding to Manitoba’s already problematic ER wait times.

Manitoba Health has even asked some people who have applied for the health card to pay for some health services and submit receipts to the province, a disgraceful barrier to treatment for new Manitobans who can’t afford to pay.

Canada’s universal health-care system is often cited a big reason why families move to this country, and to Manitoba.

Newcomers have reams of red tape to slice through to reside in the province, and the piles of paperwork grow taller and more complex should they wish to begin the journey toward Canadian citizenship.

Manitoba’s public service can do better, and they’ve proven they can step up when it matters.

In June 2021, Manitoba Health began issuing a card with a bar code that proved people had received two vaccine doses against COVID-19. Production of the plastic vaccine passports were rushed into production and Manitobans received them promptly after applying for them on Manitoba Health’s website.

There was also an app version that allowed people to display the code using their smartphones.

The cards gave people and businesses peace of mind when restaurants, bars, sporting events and concerts opened to the public again after months of pandemic-related closures.

The government ought to use that example to inspire the public service to cut the health-card waiting times to appropriate levels — sooner, rather than later.