Paov, just 3 days left

Details: Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00; Written by editor

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We have only 3 days left until the January 31st deadline for MSP Task Force submissions.

Let's seize this opportunity to tell the BC government to get rid of MSP fees altogether by Budget 2019/20 and replace revenue in a fair way through progressive income and business taxes.

We made it easy for you to send an email to the MSP Task Force. You can use our pre-filled email message or modify it to include your perspective through our website. Click here to send your message before January 31, 4:00 PM PST.

P.S. If you sent in a submission to the task force already, thank you. Now, will you share through social media? Our strength is in numbers. Click... here to share on social media.

Original message below:

Dear Paov,

Thanks to you and tens of thousands of others, the BC government cut unfair MSP fees by 50% on January 1st and committed to getting rid of MSP fees altogether within four years.

Now we have just 9 days left to make sure that revenue is replaced in a truly fair way —and to make sure the fees are axed altogether in next year’s budget, not four years down the road.

A government-appointed MSP Task Force is seeking public input on how to replace revenues from the MSP fee cut. [1]

That means we have a huge opportunity to make sure the government replaces all MSP fee revenue in a fair way through progressive income and business taxes—and gets rid of the fees altogether by Budget 2019/20.

Click here to send a message to the MSP Task Force now.

Big business and anti-tax advocates will surely fight against replacing the revenue through adjusted income taxes and business taxes.

That’s why we need your help.

If thousands of us flood the inbox of the MSP Task Force before January 31st, the government will have to consider replacing MSP fees in a way that increases fairness and improves the health of British Columbians.

Click here to send an email through our website to the MSP Task Force demanding MSP revenues be replaced in a fair and progressive way.

In the BC Health Coalition’s submission to the MSP Task Force, we recommend the following: [2]

The BC government should replace the MSP revenue with a combination of personal and business taxes based on the Ontario approach and modelling conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA-BC). CCPA-BC Senior Economist Iglika Ivanova’s modelling proposes that 60 per cent of the MSP revenue be paid through personal income tax and the remaining 40 per cent be paid through business taxes (the same share that businesses already pay but spread more fairly across employers). [3]
The remaining 50 per cent of MSP premiums should be eliminated entirely in Budget 2019/20. This is doable. Ontario and Alberta both ended health care premiums in one budget cycle.
There should be no overall loss of provincial revenue as a result of scrapping MSP fees in order to ensure that public health care and other services are not negatively affected.

Why should be MSP fees be replaced by a combination of personal and business taxes?

Income taxes represent the most progressive personal tax available for the government to use where people with high and low incomes all pay their fair share.

Taxes fund the public services we all collectively depend on and that support our communities to thrive, including public health care.

However, if B.C. replaces MSP fees with personal income taxes alone, businesses that currently pay MSP for their employees will no longer share the cost.

When Ontario got rid of its health premium in 1990, it was reasoned the combination of personal and business taxes would be a fair reflection of the fact that both people and business benefit from public health care and have traditionally shared the costs.

Furthermore, the net savings will be greater for BC families if the MSP revenue is replaced with a combination of personal and business taxes.

Click here to use our email tool to send the MSP Task Force your thoughts and ask for MSP fees be replaced in a way that increases fairness in society and improves the health of British Columbians.

Thanks,

Edith and Rick

BC Health Coalition co-chairs

www.bchealthcoalition.ca

___________

Sources

[1] https://engage.gov.bc.ca/msptaskforce/

[2] http://bchealthcoalition.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/BC_Health_Coalition_Submission_to_MSP_Task_Force_Jan_23_18.pdf

[3] https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office/2016/07/CCPA-BC-Eliminate-MSP.pdf

The BC Health Coalition exists thanks to the generous support of people from all across the province. If you'd like to donate to help fund our work, click here.

British Columbia Health Coalition · 3102 Main St, 302, Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories, BC V5T 3G7, Canada

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