Liberal Leader Brian Gallant had asked the Health Minister if the plan is voluntary in the first phase...David Alward tells CHSJ News it is to begin with but by May of 2015 it will become mandatory for all New Brunswickers without a health care plan to have insurance.
He says the plan will be set up based on a person's ability to pay, meaning, that means a person or family's income will determine the amount they contribute.
Alward says volunteers alone spent 6000 hours developing the plan, and that number speaks to the amount of work that has gone into the creation of the program. He says all of that work has produced a good end result for New Brunswickers.