Nova Scotia senior to change will in protest of pharmacare hike

It's going to take more than a spoonful of sugar to make Max Pottie swallow the bitter medicine the province handed out this month in seniors' pharmacare premium hikes.

The 89-year-old Halifax man plans to retaliate for what he calls a "200 per cent increase in tax" forced on "a small group of people."

"I have a plan in my mind of how I can fix the province, the premier, and he's not going to be very happy with what I'm going to do," the former teacher and insurance broker said Friday.

That plan is to change his will. Instead of leaving several hundred thousand dollars worth of shares to the Dartmouth General Hospital and QEII Health Sciences Centre foundations, Pottie said he will steer his bequest to other organizations.

"Well now, if the premier's going to be so mean as to say, 'I want $1,200 from you, Max Pottie,' then I'm going to say, 'You can look after the hospitals yourself!' I'm not going to give them that money," he said.

"I'm going to change my will. And I will."

Pottie, who's unmarried with no children, added he has more money than he can spend in his lifetime.

'That really got under my skin'

Under the existing pharmacare program, high-earning seniors pay the same annual premium of $424 as a senior making just $24,000 a year.

The new rules coming into force April 1 will see about 8,000 seniors in the program paying a new maximum premium of $1,200. Two-thirds of seniors in the program won't see any change in premiums, according to the government, while 29,000 will pay less.

Pottie acknowledged drug costs are rising and it won't hurt some seniors to pay more.

"I know the province doesn't have any money, but to suddenly take one small group of people maybe 8,000 and say, 'You're going to pay for the people that can't pay for it,' that really got under my skin," he said.

"I don't mind a 20 per cent increase, that seems reasonable."

'It's not right'

The program currently has about 120,000 seniors enrolled. The premium changes, announced earlier this month, were first painted by the government as an attempt to make the program more sustainable.

But financial estimates released this week suggest there will only be modest savings under a best-case scenario. Health Minister Leo Glavine and Premier Stephen McNeil now say the changes are a matter of making the program more fair.

Pottie accused the Liberals of picking on vulnerable people for a quick cash grab.

"I've never seen an increase of 200 per cent in any type of tax, it's a tax really. The money goes to the government, from $420 to $1,200 in one blow. It's not right," he said.

"We're pretty well defenceless. I'm 89 years old, so what can you do except protest, and I'm doing that."