Then, Lloydminster senior Bryan Robinson was staring down a $1,800 bill for a 45-day addiction recovery program.
That's due to a major shift in the way the Alberta government is funding addictions recovery.
For the first time, the province has eliminated fees for people to attend the 72 licensed, publicly funded treatment centres in the province.
Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan says eliminating user fees for residential addiction recovery programs is good value for money.
Executive director of Parents Empowering Parents Society, Greig has seen families spend their life savings to pay for addiction treatment programs.
It's also unclear how successful recovery programs are in the long-term — the government hopes to begin tracking that.
The funding changes could also bring more stability to recovery centres, which are either non-profit or run by Alberta Health Services. »
