Budget cuts chiropractic funding, defers medical projects

Budget cuts chiropractic funding, defers medical projects
By Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldApril 7, 2009 4:01 PM

Alberta's health budget defers several medical projects including nursing homes, while cutting funding for chiropractic patients and sex change operations.

The province's 2009-10 budget, released today, provides $13 billion to the health system, but axes subsidies for chiropractic care that were previously worth $200 annually per patient.

Today's budget also eliminates "gender reassignment" surgery, meaning it will no longer pay for Albertans to have sex change operations, saving the system about $700,000 a year.

The province's superboard received a modest increase in funding of about $550 million, bringing its budget to $7.7 billion.

"We are maintaining our spending from last year and are also able to give Alberta Health Services an increase," said Health Minister Ron Liepert, in a statement.

Captial spending on new and renovated health facilties, however, will decline signfiicantly, to $369 million this year compared to $979 million last year.

The province's health capital plan shows several projects are on hold, including several rural long term care facilties and a north Calgary diagnostic clinic.

mlang@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald