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Jamie Sarkonak: All-inclusive migrant health plan will burden Canada for years to come

New co-pay fees will do little to offset growing costs of the program, which can be used even by rejected asylum seekers

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There are thousands of asylum seekers and illegal residents awaiting deportation who get more free health care than regular Canadian citizens. These all-inclusive care packages cost the public treasury $1 billion last year — and a recent attempt by the feds to bring it under control won’t help much, based on a Parliamentary Budget Officer report released Tuesday.

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Known as the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), this freebie service provides the following to asylum seekers and rejects: hospital care, free doctor visits, free lab work, free ambulance trips. Before May 1, it also provided free medicine, and free “supplemental coverage”: vision and dental care, counselling, physiotherapy, speech language therapy, home care, medical supplies, etc. Earlier this month, the feds began requiring program users to pay a very modest $4........

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