Millions of dollars untapped in P.E.I. health, social services programs

In 2013, after years of lobbying from groups like the Canadian Cancer Society, P.E.I. became one of the last provinces in Canada to implement a catastrophic drug program.

"This program will go a long way in reducing the financial hardship some Islanders face, so they don't need to choose between their medications and other necessities such as groceries," then-health minister Doug Currie said in a press release issued with the launch of the new program.

P.E.I.'s catastrophic drug program was provided with a budget of $3 million a year. Last September, the media reported that in its first full year of operation the program only spent $900,000.

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It turns out that was a preliminary figure provided by Health PEI. When the final number was tallied it was even lower: $556,000.

Currie said not everyone was aware of the program, and government wanted to "continue to get the message out there… that the province has programs, such as the catastrophic drug program, to support these individuals and these families."

By the next year (2015-16), it seems the message still hadn't quite gotten through. Government budgeted the same amount for coverage — $3 million. This time, it spent $960,000, according to Health PEI.

So out of $6 million allocated to the catastrophic drug program over two years, only $1.5 million was spent, or one quarter of the available funding.

Insulin pumps and daycare subsidies

Here's another story with a familiar ring to it: in 2014, after years of lobbying from the Canadian Diabetes Association, P.E.I. became the last province to implement a program to help people with type 1 diabetes with the purchase of insulin pumps.

They come out with glossy pamphlets ... about the great things they're doing, but yet they continually fail to provide Islanders with what Islanders require under these programs.— Opposition health critic James Aylward

According to the Diabetes Association, there were about 600 Islanders who could benefit from an insulin pump, and providing funding for all of them would cost government about $400,000 a year.

Government created a program and allocated $400,000 a year in funding. But it only made the funding available to children and youth under 19. In the first year, $32,000 of the budget was spent. The next year (2015-16), $53,000. Over two years, only 11 per cent of the allocated funds were spent.

In some cases, budget lines that aren't fully spent are adjusted downwards the following year. In 2011-12 government spent $3.6 million on childcare subsidies, slightly below the projected budget of $3.8 million.

Since then the budgeted figure has continued to slide, with $2.6 million set aside in this year's budget, a drop of 32 per cent since 2012. Family Services Minister Tina Mundy says the budget is based on utilization the previous year — that not enough people have been using the childcare subsidy, and nobody who qualifies has been turned away.

'Glossy pamphlets, big headlines'

In all these cases, the Opposition says government is using criteria such that most Islanders who need the support don't qualify for it, setting aside money that therefore cannot be spent.

During question period Friday, Opposition health critic James Aylward asked government if this pattern of under-spending was part of government's plan to balance its budget.

"They come out with glossy pamphlets, big headlines, announcements in the media about the great things they're doing, but yet they continually fail to provide Islanders with what Islanders require under these programs," Aylward said.

Health and Wellness Minister Robert Henderson responded that money that isn't spent is allocated elsewhere in the health care system. And it's not like Health PEI is coming in under budget: it spent $620 million in 2015-16, $8 million over budget.

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