By Andrew Macdonald
A former deputy health minister in Nova Scotia, applauds the move by the province to roll out a program this spring to place therapy sessions with psychologists and social workers under MSI, making those hour-long therapy sessions covered universally.
But, there are a lot of questions related to the program, says Kevin McNamara, who was a deputy health minister in the NDP government led by Darrell Dexter from 2009 to 2013.
Until recently, McNamara sat on the board of the Canadian Mental Health Association and has a long distinguished career in health, including serving as administrator to a senior’s complex.
In my news chat with McNamara, who now lives in Bridgewater, says putting some mental illnesses, such as anxiety and mood disorders under universal coverage “is a positive move.”
The current Tim Houston-led government has committed $10 million to the program of therapy sessions. It’s a promise Houston made as Opposition leader in 2018.
A one-hour session with a psychologist or social worker can run to $210 an hour, and McNamara says, “Always in these things, the devil is in the details.”
He has a lot of questions about how the government-funded therapy sessions will roll out, and wonders if folk who now pay out of pocket for therapy sessions with clinical psychologists and social workers will eventually be covered by the public system Houston is creating.
“Does it mean existing people will now be covered, or does it mean new clients will be covered who have no access; so does it take private individuals out of the private side and reduce access in another way? I am not being negative, I am just asking questions because we do not know what the plan will look like,” says McNamara.
“If for example it takes individuals out of private service and gives it to someone else, it just changes the problem to another group of people. It might be fine, but we won’t know that until we know the full details. Let’s hope it means people have access without paying, but also that it provides opportunities for more people to access it.”
McNamara says also unknown at the moment is whether the government-funded mental health therapy sessions will be limited to a couple of sessions a year. Some existing health benefit plans only pay for two therapy sessions a year, and McNamara wonders if the government system will be modelled in the same way.
“I am just asking questions that have to be asked or figured out on how the program should be rolled out,” McNamara tells The Macdonald Notebook.
“But, overall, I think this is the right thing to do, and probably overtime they should expand it to 100 per cent coverage, not just to a limited number of practitioners,” he adds.
Kevin McNamara is a former Nova Scotia deputy minister of health, and a former administrator of nursing homes. The Notebook photo
