The NDP wants to change Nova Scotia’s insurance cap on so-called “minor” injuries suffered in car accidents.
The government plans to introduce legislation this spring to change the $2,500 cap on soft tissue injuries.
“Our government is not persuaded that the current minor injury cap is fair,” Finance Minister Graham Steele said yesterday.
“We believe it needs to change, but exactly how it should change in order to rebalance fairness and affordability, that’s the whole purpose of the consultation.”
Steele said government staff is already working on the issue and a discussion paper should be released within days. He said there are still questions about how raising the cap would affect insurance rates as well as questions about retroactivity.
“We can change the rules from now forward, that’s easy,” he said. “But deciding how it’s going to apply to people in the cap period from 2003 to now without unduly effecting the affordability of insurance rates, that’s one of the key questions.”
The NDP had formerly been advocates of creating a public insurance option. But Steele said that was during the crisis of rising insurance rates and since rates have stabilized the government is not looking at enacting public insurance.
