CALGARY – Sweeping changes to senior Albertans’ benefit programs are too much, too fast says the president of the Alberta Council on Aging.
Neil Reimer said the council would like to see the Alberta Seniors Benefit program eliminated in spite of recent revisions made to the program by a special committee with pensioners and government people.
“We’re not happy with it. The threshold limits for people who won’t get benefits are very low,” said Reimer.
“It’s going to create considerable hardship for seniors who have low income and of course most seniors come under the $15,000 level,” he said.
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“They’re cutting our income on one hand and charging us more on the other.”
Community services minister Gary Mar and health minister Shirley McClellan announced adjustments to seniors’ benefits following recent meetings protesting cuts of $2 million in seniors’ services in the spring budget.
The most contentious issue is the Alberta Seniors Benefit.
It replaces four programs: Alberta Assured Income Plan, Property Tax Reduction Program, Senior Citizens’ Renter Assistance Program and exemption from paying Alberta Heath care premiums.
This new program allocates cash based on seniors’ private income. It decreases on a sliding scale as that income increases.
New income thresholds
The revisions set new income thresholds from what was proposed in the earlier budget so more seniors will receive cash benefits, extended health benefits to cover eyeglasses and dental work as well as a graduated scale of health-care premiums.
Single seniors with incomes under $18,000, one-senior couples with incomes under $23,000 and two-senior couples with incomes under $27,000 will qualify for the payment, said Mar.
According to the council’s figures, 9.1 percent of the Alberta population is over 65, which makes this province’s population the youngest in Canada, said Reimer.
The figures say 52 percent of people between the ages of 65 to 69 earn less than $15,000 per year and for those over age 70, the number climbs to 61 percent.
Reimer argues that the changes to seniors’ pensions should be phased in much slower.
The government needs to take into account the culture of present-day seniors who came from a generation where there was a single breadwinner with a single pension.
These people are now living on a low, fixed income, he said.
As time goes by and baby boomer couples retire, they will have company pensions and probably more money set aside because both spouses worked.
