17 January 2004

My Faith Has Been Restored - Kind Of

And I almost had a heart attack when I did.

It seems that Alberta Health & Wellness has dug a little deeper into the records and decided to reconsider some of what they told me on the last bill I received. They had granted me a partial subsidy from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003. They have also granted me a complete subsidy from 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2002. An additional full subsidy has been granted from 1 July 2001 to 31 December 2001. These subsidies have also caused them to grant me a credit on some of the penalties that they had charged because of the outstanding balance.

What the Health Care Lords giveth they also taketh away, however, but they didn't do it as bad as I half-expected them to. They have charged me a four-and-a-half percent penalty on my new balance due to the fact that it is outstanding. And they have also billed me for my premiums from 1 January 2004 to 31 March 2004.

The credits granted, however, far outweigh those charges. Where my balance outstanding with them was once close to twenty-five hundred dollars, my new balance outstanding is just under sixteen hundred dollars. All in all I don't suppose that I can really complain with the results.

In a way, though, I kind of feel bad for having gotten so angry when that last bill came through the mail telling me that I didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting a premium subsidy. But really, why should I feel guilty at all when that's all they told me? They made no mention of the fact that they were looking deeper into the records to see if there was some leeway that they could grant me. Why should I feel guilty about getting angry when all they've told me is to go to hell, not to be patient because they're looking for a way to help me out?

When I got that last bill I had seriously considered calling up Alberta Health & Wellness and tearing a strip off of someone in a position of authority, reasoning that that would be the only way that I could get some satisfaction on this issue. In retrospect I'm glad that my schedule didn't allow for me to do that, because what I have in front of me is probably better than what I would have gotten if I had gone off on a tear.

Some of my faith in the system has been restored. The powers that be in the government health care system have granted me something of a reprieve when they most certainly didn't have to. The right thing has been done.

That doesn't mean, however, that I am completely satisfied with the way that the system works overall. I'm not. I think that the whole premium system is inherently flawed in that it ties the level of the subsidy granted to your salary in relation to the provincial minimum wage. If you hold a full time job at minimum wage then you are granted a full subsidy, no questions asked. But if you make so much as ten cents per hour over the minimum wage then you don't stand a chance of getting a subsidy.

I wouldn't have a problem with this policy so much of our minimum wage was anything like reasonable. Five dollars and ninety cents per hour at forty hours per week is nowhere near enough money to allow someone to earn a living in this province unless you want to live in a drug-infested slum and spend your days drinking tap water and eating instant noodles. The cost of living in this province has skyrocketed in the last few years and I think that the provincial government needs to review the provincial minimum wage as a result of that increase.

Of course that will never happen. Alberta is the haven of the employer and if the government raises the minimum wage then the employers are going to have to pay their workers more money. That would piss off the employers and if you piss off the employers then you discourage growth. They're not going to spend money on expanding their businesses if you make them pay even a part of that money to their workers in increased wages. If you stifle growth then you stifle job creation and that's a sure fire way to commit political suicide.

The simple fact that no real job creation initiatives have been introduced in Alberta in more years than I care to think about is irrelevant. The government believes that the potential is there and they're going to fight like hell to protect it, but it's potential that isn't being used. Meanwhile, their protection of that potential that isn't being used causes the vast majority of our citizens to have to work two and sometimes three jobs just to be able to earn something approaching a decent living. A raise in the minimum wage would make those people breathe a little easier, yes? A raise in the minimum wage that would allow them to breathe a little easier would thus increase their mental and physical health, yes? An increase in their mental and physical health would make them more productive workers, yes? And the more productive your workers are the more money you stand to make as an employer, yes?

We all know that this kind of reform is never going to happen, no matter which political party happens to be in power in this province. This matter is further complicated by the fact that the Conservative Party is the natural government of the province of Alberta, and they're perfectly content with the status quo. Why shouldn't they be content with it when, combined with current fiscal practices in the Provincial government, the status quo allows them to vote themselves a raise every single year? If you were a politician then you would be content with this practice too, yes?

I have said it before and I will say it again. Alberta is the haven of the employer, not the employee. Alberta does not have labor laws, we have labor guidelines. The distinction between the two is a simple one. A labor law is, for all intents and purposes, carved in stone and carries definite penalties for its violation, whereas a labor guideline says something to the effect that this is what we would like to see you doing. However in the case of a labor guideline there isn't going to be any penalty for violation as long as you don't get caught. And in the event that you do get caught the most you're going to receive is a slap on the wrist and a good-natured lecture on how to keep from getting caught the next time.

So, why do I continue living here? It's better than the States, that's why. And it's home, for better or for worse. Most of the time it's better, as long as I don't start thinking about politics.