Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss our government's ongoing actions to return to balanced budgets and respect Canadian taxpayers' dollars. This includes the important announcement made earlier today, as my colleague mentioned, by my hon. colleague, the President of the Treasury Board, on the modernization of the public service health care plan.
The President of the Treasury Board announced that our government has approved a joint recommendation from the public service health care plan Partners Committee regarding contribution rates and eligibility requirements for retired federal employees. This also applies to benefit enhancements for all plan members under the public service health care plan. The details are as follows.
Beginning April 1, 2015, retired member cost-sharing will gradually increase over a four-year period to attain equal cost-sharing between the employer and retired members. As promised, there will also be a low-income provision for current retired members.
With respect to eligibility, a total of six years or more of pensionable service will be required to be eligible under the plan as a retired member effective April 1, 2015.
This announcement is in keeping with the provisions in economic action plan 2013 that committed our government to ensuring that the public service is affordable, modern, and high-performing. In that budget, the government confirmed that it would be examining overall employee compensation, including pensioner benefits, to ensure their affordability, sustainability, and comparability with other private and public sector employers. The settlement announced today is indeed fiscally responsible as well as fair and reasonable to all members of the plan.
As members know, our government is committed to reducing Canada's deficit and to balancing the budget in 2015. I am pleased to say that this agreement will result in $6.7 billion in overall savings.
We recognize the importance of offering a supplementary health care plan to retired members while at the same time ensuring our plan remains affordable and sustainable, given increasing cost pressures. This plan, with its new enhancements, continues to support the health and wellness of all public servants and retired members.
I would reiterate that our government is pleased that we were able to arrive at a new agreement that is fair to both plan members and taxpayers. Not only do these measures fulfill our government's saving commitments from economic action plan 2013, but they also minimize the impact on employees and the Canadian public.