Majority Say No Security Concerns With New Card
Friday, February 22, 2013 @ 3:55 AM
Prince George, BC – The new BC Services Card has been available for a full week now. It is the card that will eventually replace your CareCard and Driver’s licence , rolling the two into one.
Although touted as a “highly secure form of identification” by the Minister of Health, some other groups are not so certain about the security issues.
One of those who raised questions about the security of the cards was none other than the Privacy Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, who said her review of this first Phase of the cars met legal requirements, she has made several recommendations to enhance the existing privacy and security provisions.
250News asked if you had security concerns about the new card.
The survey results show 41% (676) said YES they had concerns about security, while 59% (1,008) said No they did not.
The Privacy Commissioner’s office will be conducting quarterly reviews over the coming year to verify that proposed security measures are in fact being implemented.
Comments
Conspiracy theories will never die.
Not having any information available on the various security issues these cards could have, it is kind of hard to make a learned decision.
I would like to see the Government give us some specific information as to why they think there is a need for a change in the first place. This change is going to cost us millions of dollars.
Other than another way of tracking its citizens (Big brother is watching you) I don’t see any need for new cards.
Palopu: “Other than another way of tracking its citizens (Big brother is watching you) I don’t see any need for new cards.”
Outside of maybe taking steps to stop medical system fraud which costs you and me tens of millions every year.
You could be right JohnnyBelt, but if it is a fraud issue then why don’t they say so. Are they afraid that they might upset the fraudsters??
I think it is more about updating their computer systems, records, compiling data on citizens, and making money for all concerned, except the taxpayers.
Why should we pay out $400 Million to change a system that works well for the majority of citizens?? Charge those who are committing fraud, and if necessary throw them in jail, instead of beating on those citizens who work by the rules.
Palopu, they have mentioned fraud. There are currently 9.1 million Care Cards in circulation and only 4.5 million BC residents. The current system isn’t working and it’s ripe for people to rip off the medical system and the taxpayers of BC.
Fraud is easy to identify, but it’s costly to prove and track down individual offenders. I would think moving to a more secure system overall would be the most effective solution.
BCRacer: “If people are so conerned that a police office might find out about their medical record or dotors will see their driving record…get them separate a medical card and a drivers licence..”
I’d like someone to explain the logic of why a police officer would automatically be able to see all your medical records just because your Care Card and Drivers license are on one card. Unless I missed the announcement, the BC Medical System and Dept. of Motor vehicles are not merging.
shhh Johnny – dont pop the conspiracy bubbles, its Friday – let people be happy whilst hiding in thier closet ;)
JohnnyBelt. According to your numbers that would leave 4.6 million additional Care Cards in circulation in BC.4
Soooo. Were these additional cards issued by the BC Government. If so then they would have a record of who they were issued to.
In all my years in BC I have never heard of or discussed the issue of Care Card fraud with anyone. So the question is. Who is committing the fraud, and how is it being done.
One would think that it would be pretty hard to have multiple people using the same card and getting different procedures done. Sooner or later we would have people on record who had five or six knee replacements.
Maybe the scam is getting access to prescription drugs, but how would that work.
Unless the Government gives some specifics, on how these frauds are taking place, I call BS on the new cards.
Maybe you JB can give us some examples, as you seem to be in favour the change.
BCRacer. If you think being watched has something to do with having something to hide, then you are way off base.
Some fairly recent examples of Governments watching their Citizens would be Nazi Germany, Communist China, and Communist Russia, to name but a few.
People are watched generally to ensure that they are not a threat to the Government.
It has recently come to light that Tommy Douglas the so called Father of Medicare was watched by the RCMP on a regular basis for over 30 years. I suppose you think that that’s ok??
Palopu: “JohnnyBelt. According to your numbers that would leave 4.6 million additional Care Cards in circulation in BC.”
They’re not ‘my’ numbers. They’re ‘the’ numbers.
“One would think that it would be pretty hard to have multiple people using the same card and getting different procedures done.”
One would think, but apparently it happens.
“Unless the Government gives some specifics, on how these frauds are taking place, I call BS on the new cards.”
You can hide your head in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist, or you can do something about it. The current cards and current system are easy to defraud, especially since the current Care Cards have no picture ID.
Why wouldn’t you want that stopped?
Fraud costs the system $260 million, ministry says.
B.C.’s health ministry estimates it is being defrauded of potentially $260 million in health care insurance every year, partly as a result of people illegally accessing medical services through fake, stolen or borrowed CareCards.
http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=88ba8b6f-855b-48b9-8aa5-e9a8204e2700&sponsor=
JB. You will note that when it comes to **fraud** by the use of Care Cards they state that the cost is in the 10’s of millions. Somewhat different from $260 Million/.
Its interesting to note that they believe a huge portion of this fraud is from inappropriate billing from doctors.
They don’t seem to want to get specific as to where the fraud takes place, and who is responsible.
Considering the source of this endeavor (Liberal Government) I still call BS on the whole venture.
They are now going to allow doctors to give advice over the phone, and bill the medical service plan, $15.00 per call for a maximum of 500 calls per year. I suppose we will have to call in on **Skype** so that the Doctor knows for sure that the person he is talking to is the person who has the photogenic care card.
Palopu: “Its interesting to note that they believe a huge portion of this fraud is from inappropriate billing from doctors.”
As harsh as it sounds, Doctors don’t have any real incentive to catch people defrauding the system, as long as they get paid.
Who cares about specifics? Fraud is fraud. And it costs us millions. You are trying to find a conspiracy where there is none.
I am at a loss as to why you can’t see any value in a photo CareCard.
We have had these Care Cards since 1989, 23 years, and we are just now finding out that there is a problem with fraud???
Not bloody likely. We are going to spend $160 Million to save $10 Million. How stupid can you get.
When they are finished we will have different cards for different people, and will have inconvenienced millions of people, on the premise, that somewhere, somehow, there is fraud taking place.
No specifics, no charges laid, no committee set up to look into the matter.
Seems to me there is more to this issue than fraud.
This Government really needs to go, and it needs to go fast.
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