Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions are for the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, will the Premier confirm how, in the Extended Health Benefits Policy 49.07, a disease condition makes it on the list of specified disease conditions? How often is this list updated and what consideration is given to those diseases that are rare such as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although I heard three questions in there, I think all of them belong to the Minister of Health. I'd like to defer it to the Minister of Health. Thank you.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for Hay River South for the question.
I want to start by saying this isn't the appropriate forum to discuss specific cases or conditions. It's important that we respect the right of patients to their health information.
That said, on the general topic of the specified conditions, the list, which has 58 conditions on it, was inherited from the federal government when we took responsibility in this area in 1988. Some conditions were added in 2011 through the medical director of the time.
The specified disease list is now the subject of a review by the Department of Health and Social Services. There will be public consultation in the summer, and we expect to have a new draft policy available for review by next spring. The purpose of redrafting the policy is that listing conditions is not a very efficient way of dealing with need for extra help with things like prescription drugs. It would be better to look at income and means testing to see what people have for personal resources and what they need in order to pay for the help they need through their specified conditions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier confirm how constituents with diseases not currently listed on the specified disease conditions list are accommodated when it comes to provision of treatment and medication?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, medical treatment, as the Member knows, is an insured service under the NWT Health Plan. So anyone with appear at any of the health centres, or at Stanton, and expect to receive a diagnosis and treatment for the condition that they are presenting with. That said, we do not cover drugs on a universal basis. There is no universal PharmaCare here or anywhere else in the country at this point.
There is an understanding at our level, and at the federal level, that there is a need to develop a strategy around specified not specified diseases but extraordinary drug costs because what we're finding is there are more of these one in a million cases of disease, and often the treatments are extremely expensive. So there is an acknowledgement that this is a potential problem, and a remedy is in the works. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier confirm what is the role of her department when it comes to persons who are indigent and without the financial resources to acquire treatment or drugs for a rare disease such as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis? Thank you.
Yes, thank you. This answer really turns on the personal resources of the person. In some cases people may be able to access health benefits through their work or through their parents work if they're dependent children. It may be possible if they're seniors. It is possible for them to access support from the GNWT. Likewise people who qualify for Metis health benefits can have their drugs covered and those with the specified conditions.
After that, it may be possible for a person to apply for private health insurance. It may also be possible for a person to apply for income assistance and for a disability benefit if their disease prevents them from working. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my constituent exhausted all other avenues for assistance in covering treatment costs and now looks to this government as his last hope.
Mr. Speaker, clause 8 of the Extended Health Benefits Policy 49.07 states that nothing in this policy shall in any way be construed to limit the prerogative of the Executive Council to make decisions or take action respecting extended health benefits outside the provisions of this policy.
Mr. Speaker, will the Premier confirm the purpose or intent of that clause, and does the Premier see it as a drafter's intent to address policy gaps? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Honourable Premier.
Thank you. Respectfully, Mr. Speaker, it's usually the Premier that would speak on Executive Council issues. So if you're all right, I'll take that question.
So the purpose of the provision in all actually in all policies in the GNWT are similar to that stating that the Executive Council, nothing in the policy shall in any way construe the limits or the prerogative of the Executive Council to make decisions to take action respecting a lot of policies.
And the reason is for that is because although Ministers have specific departments, it's the Executive Council, as a whole, that is responsible for the operations of the government. However, in saying that, we don't get into every single department. That's why we have departments and specific ministers for that.
However, the other thing that's important to say as well is that the matters that are put before the Executive Council themselves are subject to privilege. So I can't publicly actually talk to commit to whether to the Member publicly whether this would come to the Executive or not.
But I do want to say that we do recognize that there's issues with this policy, and I think that the Minister recognizes that as well, and that's why she is looking to do a review of the Extended Health Benefits Policy that's underway now.
I also heard I've had personal conversations with the Member as well, Mr. Speaker, and I also can say that, you know, it's heartbreaking to hear when people fall through gaps, and none of us want to see that. But with the Minister with her work on the extended health policy. And also Canada, there's a national pharmacy program care program that they're talking about as well.
So based on my conversations with the Member, Mr. Speaker, I will make sure that I bring this conversation up with my conversations with federal ministers, to the prime minister, and see how their PharmaCare program can actually interact with our own policies around healthcare. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
