Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement today on the subject of medical travel for the parents of children who are attending school in southern Canada and diagnosed with serious illnesses. So, for the Minister of Health and Social Services, these youth obviously need a parent with them at this stressful time and normally would be escorted by a parent to their treatments if the child’s travel originated in the NWT. There’s a clear policy gap here. I understand that there’s a review of the medical escort policy underway.
Can the Minister tell me who is conducting the review and if this specific policy gap is being addressed by this review? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We actually have a private organization doing the current review of the medical, or escort portion of the contract. I do forget the name of the provider, but I will get that information for the Member. I have asked the department to make sure that this is one of the issues that’s being discussed. To that point, I’ve also asked that the group that’s doing the review actually get in touch with the family that is in this particular situation. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I know the Minister is keenly interested in this and very open to investigating and considering the various perspectives.
This review is a welcome one, of course, and long overdue. I’m sure that there are many people that could provide valuable insight and have experiences to relate, such as my constituents.
How is the Minister engaging the people of the North for input into this review? Mahsi.
Thank you. I went into some detail on this when we were in front of Committee of the Whole, but at this point the working group has actually gone out to a number of communities in the Northwest Territories. What we’re trying to do is get a small community, a large community and a remote community so we can get a variety of different inputs and opinions. We’re also looking at all the data that’s been gathered on medical travel over many, many, many years. So that’s been thrown into the mix. There will be some discussions with different stakeholders and groups in Yellowknife. They’ve also been in touch with Larga House as somebody who is a recipient of our residents and our escorts.
This particular review is focused around escorts. There’s going to be one later this year on an appeal process and then we’re going to be looking at some other portions of that Medical Travel Policy, as well, as we go through 2015-2016. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for his response. I’m sure he’s hearing from MLAs who have constituents with ideas to contribute.
Medical travel insurance for people travelling outside the Territories has been rightly suggested for NWT residents who travel. The issue of SFA, Student Financial Assistance, sponsoring students possibly needing such extra coverage, which could possibly include medical travel support for parents when appropriate, seems to me a special case that could be covered under a group insurance plan included in SFA for sponsored students.
As the Minister responsible for social programs, Health and Social Services, is this idea of group insurance by SFA for NWT students in this situation something he would investigate and consider? Thank you.
I’m not aware of any group insurance that Education, Culture and Employment might provide to students that are on SFA, but I’ve already asked the deputy minister of Health and Social Services to be in touch with the deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment to find out what, if anything, they do. Once we know, then we will be in a position to have some discussions with Education, Culture and Employment whether that is something that they might possibly be able to do for our students who are travelling south. As I get more information, I will absolutely share that with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s initiative. Of course, students are on a budget, so a group plan might be something attractive.
I support the Minister’s review of the Medical Travel Policy including this apparent policy gap under the medical escort travel.
When will the Minister be seeking input on the draft results of the review from committee, and when can we expect it to be completed and implemented? Mahsi.
The initial work being done by the contractor is going to be done, I believe, at the end of March, at which point we will start putting together the results and how we’re going to move forward. Of course, this is a consensus system, so we will be sharing those results and having further discussion with the Members as the report comes in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
