Political solutions to health cut stand-off

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Non-insured health benefits, including things like eyeglasses, dental services, prescription drugs and medical supplies, may be cut or severely re-stricted under new budget guidelines being hammered out by Health Canada.

A letter sent to the Assembly of First Nations and signed by assistant deputy Health minister Paul Cochrane said there are five options the medical services branch of Health and Welfare is considering:

Prioritization of all medical services branch programs;

Review of all non-insured benefits and benefit levels;

Limiting non-insured benefits to on-reserve registered Indians and to Inuit;

Limiting non-insured health benefits to on-reserve Indians and to Inuit who are receiving social assistance.

Reconfiguring non-insured health benefits into national and regional benefits.

"It's a terrible slap in the face for Indian health care," said Carole Dawson, Kwakiutl District Council health planner. "We have alarming health problems as it is, and for the government to propose these cuts is the biggest cruelty that they can do to us."

Those options limiting non-insured benefits to on-reserve Indians and Inuit, and limiting those benefits to on-reserve Indians and Inuit who are re-ceiving social assistance, are of particular concern, said Chief Eric Large of Saddle Lake, Alta.

Health care is a treaty right, said a press release from the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations. Recent health negotiations between the federal government and First Nations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have come to a halt because the government insists that the treaties contain no reference to the right of health.

Federal Health Minister Diane Marleau has invited First Nations lead-ers to work with her department to develop a national framework for man-aging the growth of the delivery of First Nations health services within the federal budget.

If the chiefs don't participate in the process, decisions on First Nations health expenditures will be made without them.

Treaty Six, Seven and Eight groups have formed a chiefs; task force on health, which includes chiefs from each treaty area. The task force has called upon Marleau and Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin to put a morato-rium on any cuts to health care for treaty people.

They are trying to arrange a meeting between Marleau, the task force and Irwin in September in High Level, Alta.

"We're trying the political route for a political solution, rather than a legal solution at this point," said Large.