The Manitoba Liberal party said it will cut ambulance fees for low-income seniors if elected.
The subsidy would apply to seniors ages 65 and up living on a yearly income less than $20,000.
Liberal leader Rana Bokhari said she believes some seniors are not calling ambulances because of the cost of the service.
“Nobody should be choosing between having a heart attack and needing to take an ambulance somewhere, but I just can’t pay for it. That’s just not who we are as Manitobans, and that should just not be happening,” said Bokhari.
The party said that cost varies throughout the province, but can exceed $500 in some areas.
Bokhari said low income seniors would still receive the ambulance fee bill, and the province would reimburse them.
A specific date is not yet set for when the subsidy would be implemented, Bokhari said.
“I don’t believe that there’s any reason we should be holding out any longer than we have to, so it would definitely be something we want to do immediately.”
Bokhari said the party considered applying the subsidy to all Manitobans, but it wasn’t fiscally possible.
She said the party hasn’t ruled out a cost reduction for ambulance fees for all Manitobans.
The Liberals said the pledge would cost less than $1.5 million annually.
