Ontario health premium: who pays?Have you been wondering if employee groups will look to employers to pay their employees' portion of the proposed Ontario Health Premium (OHP OHP Oregon Health Plan OHP Overhead Projector OHP Observatoire de Haute-Provence (French observatory) OHP Office of Historic Preservation OHP Oral History Project OHP Occupational Health Psychology OHP Oxford Health Plans Inc. )? During the Ontario government's budget speech on May 18, 2004, provincial finance Minister Greg Sorbara Gregory "Greg" Sorbara, MPP (born September 4, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario) is the Minister of Finance in the Ontario Liberal Party government of Premier Dalton McGuinty. Sorbara is the member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Vaughan. announced the introduction of a new "health premium" designed to provide additional funds for health care. The Ontario Health Premium (OHP) commenced in mid 2004. The OHP is not specifically termed a "tax," but it is charged to an individual tax-payer at the end of a calendar year and based on the individual's taxable income Under the federal tax law, gross income reduced by adjustments and allowable deductions. It is the income against which tax rates are applied to compute an individual or entity's tax liability. The essence of taxable income is the accrual of some gain, profit, or benefit to a taxpayer. . It is anticipated that such a premium will be imposed on all individuals earning more than $20,000 per year. It will be graduated on the basis of income, capping out at $900 per year for those earning an annual income of more than $200,000. In 1989, Ontario discontinued the collection of OHIP OHIP Ontario Health Insurance Plan OHIP Office of Health Insurance Programs (New York State Department of Health) OHIP Occupational Health Internship Program (AOEC) OHIP Ownership Has Its Privileges premiums and adopted an Employer Health Tax. Despite this, however, many collective agreements have maintained references to OHIP health premiums being wholly or partly paid for by an employer. Such language will surely lead unions to call on employers to assume the cost of their employees' OHP. The issue is also sure to be raised at the bargaining table. The ability of the union to reasonably advance this claim will be dependent on the precise wording of the collective agreement. Anticipating this, the minister of finance has been clear in his comments that the OHP is vastly different from the old Ontario Health Insurance Plan The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) is the government-run health plan for the Canadian province of Ontario. Every Ontario resident is entitled to free access to emergency and preventive medical care under OHIP. premiums that were discontinued in 1989. He has announced that the premium will be "... taken off paycheques as part of the provincial income tax, not as a separate premium, as was the case with the Ontario Health Insurance Plan levies eliminated 14 years ago". Despite reassurances by the minister, employers are encouraged to review their collective agreements to determine whether there exists any language that the union could use to advance the argument that the employer is contractually bound to cover the costs of the OHP. If a risk is identified, employers are encouraged to develop a strategy to respond. Victoria R. Chiappetta is a lawyer with the Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. office of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol . Her practice is restricted to labour and employment on behalf of management. |
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