While chilly winter temperatures well below freezing continue
to wreak havoc for New Brunswickers in terms of higher power bills, the
province’s energy utility said anyone who is struggling to make ends
meet should contact them to find a solution.
“We would hope they would call us at the start and not once
they get too far behind that it’s much harder to catch up,” said Julie
MacNair, a Shediac-based supervisor with customer care for NB Power.
“For us that’s really, really important and what we focus on is making
successful arrangements, case by case, and really taking the time to
hear what their situation is, what they are struggling with and being
able to provide each customer what is needed for them to be successful.
That’s what we want as well is for them to be able to manage and find
solutions.”
MacNair said NB Power is more than willing to work out
different solutions for customers and can also give them a host of
resources — from ways to help lower their power bill, to numbers for
social assistance and aid programs they might qualify for in order to
help with the costs.
As an example, MacNair said just yesterday she dealt with a
woman whose partner had run into health issues which were creating some
unforeseen expenses.
MacNair was able to suggest to this particular customer that
plastic over the windows might help, as her home wasn’t incredibly
insulated.
She said the average power bill is 60 per cent heating, 20 per cent appliances and the other 20 per cent is hot water.
“The bigger bang for your buck is going to be insulation and making sure your house is well insulated,”she said.
In addition, MacNair was able to recommend the phone numbers for some assistance programs the customer might qualify for.
“There’s also credit counselling that we can provide a phone
number too,” she said. “We often ask if a family member can help, a
friend or family member. We also go through consumption, because we feel
that’s very important that they understand that maybe they have a role
to play in the sense that they can have an impact on their consumption.
We try to educate them there as well.”
For customers who are in good standing without arrears, but
have difficulty paying in the winter months, equalized billing — paying
the same averaged bill amount each month then being either reimbursed or
debited the difference at year end — is also an option that can be
explored.
In addition to the frigid temperatures sending bills soaring, a
2010 freeze on power rate increases was lifted last year as NB Power
increased rates by two per cent on Oct. 1, 2013. However, the change
accounts for roughly a $3 increase on the monthly power bill of the
average New Brunswick family.
Despite the help NB Power is willing to offer, an advocate for
senior citizens suggests soaring winter power bills remain a big issue
for certain segments of the population.
Cecile Cassista is a Riverview town councillor and also
executive director of the Coalition for Seniors’ and Nursing Home
Residents’ Rights, She said even personally she has seen her power bills sky rocket recently.
Ambulance Service Restored April 1, 2014
N.B. drops ambulance service fees
Conservative government fulfills one of its key 2010 election promising
by eliminating fees
Chris Morris Legislature Bureau
FREDERICTON – The Tory government is acting on one of its
key promises from the 2010 election campaign and is waiving ambulance fees for
people who have had to dig into their own pockets to pay the $130 charge.
Health Minister Ted Flemming announced yesterday the
elimination of the ambulance fee for people not already covered by government
assistance or private insurance means the long-standing election commitment
finally is fulfilled. The change will take effect on April 1.
“You can’t do everything on day one – you have to have
priorities,” Flemming said when asked why the government waited until near the
end of its mandate to act on the ambulance fee promise. “Whether you did it in year four, year three
or year two … you could chase around like that until the cows come home. It’s
done. It’s a platform commitment and it has been honoured. Check the box,
commitment met, and that’s what is important.”
Opposition Liberal health critic Don Arseneault said he
believes the ambulance fee decision is politically motivated. He said the
change represents a loss in revenue at a time when nurses and other health-care
professionals are being let go to save money. “Ever since they started
to see the light of the coming election day, they have been spending like
drunken sailors,” Arseneault said of the Tories, noting that the provincial election
now is just seven months away.
“There is a cost to removing those fees. … At a time when
he is sending nurses and other health-care professionals home, I find it
irresponsible.”
Flemming said the cost will be minimal – probably about
$600,000. He said about 70 per cent of New Brunswickers have private
insurance and most of the benefits include ambulance coverage. In addition, the
poor and the elderly in New Brunswick also are covered for ambulances by
government programs. “So we are
targeting the same group of people we are targeting in our prescription drug
plan – that group of New Brunswickers who don’t have access,” Flemming said.
“If we eliminated ambulance fees in their entirety, that would be
$6 million. But this way, the target group represents about $600,000 in lost
revenue to Ambulance New Brunswick, which is not a lot in comparison to the big
picture.” He said the new ambulance fee
policy means no New Brunswicker will have to use his or her own funds to pay
for an ambulance ride. In the past, there have been concerns that if the
government started paying for more ambulance fees, private insurers would be
tempted to drop the benefit from their packages.
Flemming said the government studied that possibility and
believes the risk is minimal. He said it would represent a tiny saving for
insurance companies and probably would not merit the administrative costs of
changing. “All of our research shows
that it would be insignificant and not worth doing,” he said.
But Arseneault said he doesn’t trust the minister’s
calculations and he fears the insurance companies will alter their benefits. If
that happens, he said, dropping ambulance fees could end up costing several
million dollars. “We are going to be one of the only jurisdictions in Canada
without ambulance fees,” he said.
New Brunswick Liberals imposed the $130 fee for ambulance service
in 2009, arguing that some people were using ambulances like a free taxi to get
themselves to the hospital. Ambulance
New Brunswick reported that ambulance rides dropped by 15,000, or 14 per cent,
just one year after introducing the fee. The elimination of the fee was a
commitment in the Progressive Conservatives’ 2010 election platform.
“To think that a senior has to make a decision whether they
call an ambulance or not, that could be the decision between life and death, ”David
Alward said in the lead up to the election. “That’s why we believe it’s important to
remove the fee.”
Ambulance New Brunswick billed $4.4 million in fees for
ambulance trips in 2012.
Of that, the government collected $3.5 million. New Brunswick’s provincial ambulance service,
which has been operating since December 2007, has responded to about 95,000
calls on average in each of the past two years, figures that include both 911
emergency calls and inter-facility patient transfers.
Seniors ejected after Marilyn's Country Haven ordered closed Residents of Stewiacke care home sent to emergency room, other homes and family CBC News Posted: Feb 20, 2014 6:38 PM AT Last Updated: Feb 20, 2014 7:57 PM AT
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/seniors-ejected-after-marilyn-s-country-haven-ordered-closed-1.2545401
Local Seniors Residences meet Sprinkler Codes - Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 06:00 am | BY TIM LASIUTA
Seniors’ home safety worries raised Times & Transcript January 24, 2014
CRAIG BABSTOCK Times
& Transcript
January 24, 2014
January 24, 2014
The tragic fire at a senior citizens’ residence in Quebec early Thursday
morning has a New Brunswick seniors’ organization worried that could happen in
this province.
“We can’t wait for something like that to happen here,” says Cecile
Cassista, executive director of the Coalition for Seniors’ and Nursing Home
Residents’ Rights. “I’m very fearful of that.”
The fire occurred in the village of L’Isle-Verte, destroying a large
portion of the home. Five people were confirmed dead by Friday afternoon with
as many as 30 other people likely killed.
The cause is not yet known, but what is known is that the facility did
not have sprinklers all through the building. The older parts of the home did
not have sprinklers, while the section built in 2002 did have sprinklers.
The section with sprinklers withstood the blaze much better than the
section without.
In New Brunswick, the Fire Marshal determines the standards for these
kinds of facilities. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Molly Cormier says
New Brunswick’s 65 nursing homes all have sprinkler systems and fire evacuation
plans and are inspected annually by the Department of Public Safety as part of
their operating licence.
Nursing homes are for people who are medically stable but need around
the clock nursing care.
Cormier says since 1997, all new special care homes, as well as existing
special care homes that have major renovations or a change of licence, have
been required to have sprinkler systems. This requirement did not exist prior
to 1997 so homes built before then may or may not have a sprinkler system.
“Regardless, all special care homes are required to have a fire safety
and evacuation plan, and a smoke detector/alarm,” says the spokeswoman.
Special care homes are a step down in the level of care when compared to
nursing homes. They are for people who are generally mobile but require the
availability of supervision/assistance on a twenty-four hour basis.
Cassista says the thought that not every seniors facility has sprinklers
is a concern.
“It’s alarming to me,” she says. “I believe every home that’s going to
care for elderly people should have fire standards up to date and should put in
sprinklers.”
Cassista, who is also Deputy Mayor of Riverview, says the tragedy in
Quebec will likely make fire safety a big topic of conversation going forward.
When asked if the Department of Public Safety is considering any changes
to policy after the Quebec fire, Cormier says no matter where a tragedy occurs,
it’s only natural for people to ask questions about safety and security in
their own community.
“In New Brunswick, we follow national fire and building codes and
already have requirements in place related to annual inspection, fire safety
and evacuation planning, fire drills, and smoke detectors/alarms,” says the
spokeswoman.
“We would have to carefully understand the ramifications of changing
those requirements. Any changes would be done in consultation with Public
Safety, Social Development, seniors and their families, and the operators of
special care homes.”
acadie nouvelle Coaliton Annual meeting November 22, 2013 Waiting lists getting worse in nursing homes and hospitals
http://www.acadienouvelle.com/actualites/2013/11/21/listes-dattente-la-situation-empire-dans-les-foyers-de-soins
