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Volume 57, No. 7

53/2014

The British Columbia Gazette,

Part II

April 22, 2014

B.C. Reg. 53/2014 , deposited April 14, 2014, under the MEDICARE PROTECTION ACT [sections 8 and 51]. Order in Council 143/2014, approved and ordered April 11, 2014.

On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, orders that the Medical and Health Care Services Regulation, B.C. Reg. 426/97, is amended as set out in the attached Schedule.

— T. LAKE, Minister of Health ; A. VIRK, Presiding Member of the Executive Council .

Schedule

Section 4 of the Medical and Health Care Services Regulation, B.C. Reg. 426/97, is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraph:

(b.1) is not physically present in British Columbia for more than 30 consecutive days during the absence, , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(1.01) If a person who is a deemed resident under subsection (1) is physically present in British Columbia for one or more periods of no more than 30 consecutive days during an absence approved under that subsection,

(

a) the person continues to be absent for the purposes of that subsection, and

(

b) those periods count towards the 24 consecutive months of absence referred to in that subsection.

Part 3 is amended by adding the following section:

Definitions

7.6 In this Part:

“adjusted net income” , in relation to an eligible person, means the net income of the eligible person adjusted

(

a) by the following additions, as applicable:

(

i) if the eligible person has a spouse, the net income of the spouse;

(ii) if the eligible person is married to, or in a marriage-like relationship with, another person who is not a resident, the net income of the other person;

(iii) if the eligible person is a minor and is supported by a parent or person who stands in place of a parent, the net income of the parent or person who stands in place of a parent, and

(

b) by the following deductions, as applicable:

(i) $3 000 for a dependent spouse;

(ii) $3 000 for each of the eligible person and his or her spouse who has attained the age of 65 years on or before December 31 of the current taxation year;

(iii) $3 000 for each dependent child who is a resident, minus 1/2 of the child care expense deduction the eligible person is entitled to claim under the Income Tax Act (Canada);

(iv) $3 000 for each family member who had a disability within the meaning of the

Income Tax Act (Canada) during the immediately preceding taxation year;

(

v) the amount the eligible person or his or her spouse received under

section 4 of the Universal Child Care Benefit Act (Canada) in the immediately preceding taxation year;

(vi) the amounts in respect of a registered disability savings plan the eligible person or his or her spouse was required, by

section 146.4 of the Income Tax Act (Canada), to include in computing income for the immediately preceding taxation year;

“eligible person” means a beneficiary who satisfies the commission that he or she

(

a) has, for the 12 consecutive months immediately prior to the date on which premium assistance is first provided to him or her under

section 11, made his or her home in Canada and been a citizen of Canada or lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence,

(

b) is not a child,

(

c) is not exempt from liability to pay income tax by reason of any other Act, and

(

d) is not a person

(

i) for whom medical, surgical or obstetrical care or diagnostic services are provided under an agreement or arrangement that the care or services are paid for by the government of British Columbia other than under the Hospital Insurance Act , or

“family member” , in relation to an eligible person, means any of the following who is enrolled under

section 7 of the Act:

(

a) the eligible person;

(

b) a child of the eligible person;

(

c) the spouse of the eligible person;

“net income” ,

(

a) in relation to an individual who is a resident of Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada), means the net income of the individual in the immediately preceding calendar year as shown on the individual’s notice of assessment or notice of reassessment, and

(

b) in relation to an individual other than an individual described in paragraph (a), means the total income that the individual received from any source in the immediately preceding calendar year less any taxes the individual has paid on that income.

Section 11 is repealed and the following substituted:

Premium assistance

(1) An applicant for premium assistance must

(

a) submit to the commission an application in a form and manner specified by the commission, and

(

b) include in the application any information, authorizations, declarations and verifications required by the commission.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (b), the commission may require information, authorizations, declarations and verifications reasonably necessary

(

a) to determine that the applicant is an eligible person, or

(

b) to verify the net income or adjusted net income of the applicant.

(3) Subject to

section 9, the monthly premium rates for an eligible person are as follows:

(

a) if the adjusted net income does not exceed $22 000, nil;

(

b) if the adjusted net income exceeds $22 000 but does not exceed $24 000,

(i) $12.80 a month for a single eligible person,

(ii) $23.20 a month for an eligible person and his or her spouse, or an eligible person and one child, and

(iii) $25.60 a month for an eligible person, his or her spouse and one or more children, or an eligible person and 2 or more children;

(

c) if the adjusted net income exceeds $24 000 but does not exceed $26 000,

(i) $25.60 a month for a single eligible person,

(ii) $46.40 a month for an eligible person and his or her spouse, or an eligible person and one child, and

(iii) $51.20 a month for an eligible person, his or her spouse and one or more children, or an eligible person and 2 or more children;

(

d) if the adjusted net income exceeds $26 000 but does not exceed $28 000,

(i) $38.40 a month for a single eligible person,

(ii) $69.60 a month for an eligible person and his or her spouse, or an eligible person and one child, and

(iii) $76.80 a month for an eligible person, his or her spouse and one or more children, or an eligible person and 2 or more children;

(

e) if the adjusted net income exceeds $28 000 but does not exceed $30 000,

(i) $51.20 a month for a single eligible person,

(ii) $92.80 a month for an eligible person and his or her spouse, or an eligible person and one child, and

(iii) $102.40 a month for an eligible person, his or her spouse and one or more children, or an eligible person and 2 or more children;

(

f) if the adjusted net income exceeds $30 000, the rates applicable to beneficiaries under

section 8 (1), as if the eligible person is a beneficiary.

(4) If an eligible person is a minor, a reference to a child in subsection (3) includes a minor sibling of the eligible person.

(5) A reference to a child in subsection (3) does not include a child who is not a resident.

4 The following

section is added:

Premium assistance if spouse in care

12.1

(1) In this section:

“in care” , in relation to a person, means to be

(

a) an in-patient at an institution designated as a hospital under

section 1 of the

Hospital Act and operated primarily for the reception and treatment of persons described in paragraph (

c) of the definition of “hospital” in that section,

(

b) an in-patient at a nursing home licensed as a private hospital under the Hospital Act , or

(

c) in receipt of long-term care at a community care facility licensed under the

Community Care and Assisted Living Act ;

“long-term care” means the type of care described in

section 2 (2) (

c) of the Residential Care Regulation, B.C. Reg. 96/2009.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), premium assistance for a beneficiary whose spouse is in care is determined, so long as that condition endures, on the basis of that beneficiary’s adjusted net income, excluding the income of his or her spouse, despite the fact that, during the previous taxation year, that beneficiary’s spouse was in receipt of an income.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a beneficiary whose spouse is in care if

(

a) the premiums of the beneficiary or the spouse are being paid by a person other than the beneficiary or the spouse,

(

b) there are no fees for the care or the fees for the care are being paid by a person other than the beneficiary or the spouse, or

(

c) the sum of the net income of the beneficiary and the net income of the spouse is greater than $42 000.

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