Feds want $411 million to cover refugee health care as the number of new arrivals soars

No surprise given rising numbers and equally no surprise that it is prompting questioning among some

The federal government is asking Parliament to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending to cover the health-care costs of eligible refugees and asylum seekers — a budget line item that has soared in recent years as the number of these newcomers reached record highs.

The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) is designed to cover migrants who don’t yet qualify for provincial or territorial medicare. By removing some barriers to health care, the program makes it easier for refugees — many of them fleeing conflict or persecution abroad — to get the care they need on arrival.

There’s also a public health benefit: it helps prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases in Canada.

Some resettled refugees receive health care through the IFHP for only a few months before transitioning to provincial plans. Some remain on the federal plan for much longer as they wait for their claims to be adjudicated — a process that now takes more than two years as Ottawa grapples with a mounting backlog.

The IFHP’s cost has soared from roughly $60 million in 2016 to a projected $411.2 million this year, easily outpacing inflation.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government curtailed the IFHP and eliminated coverage entirely for some refugees and asylum seekers as part of a push to reduce spending and balance the budget.

The Harper government also said it was unfair for taxpayers to be paying for a program that was, in some instances, much more generous than what’s available to some Canadian citizens and permanent residents through public health care.

The decision to cut the program prompted a wave of criticism and was ultimately deemed unconstitutional by a Federal Court judge.

Source: Feds want $411 million to cover refugee health care as the number of new arrivals soars