Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the prevailing issues that keep coming across my desk, whether I’m getting a phone call, a letter or an e-mail, Mr. Speaker, is medical travel. That, as well, seems to be fraught with challenges. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what is she doing to lead some type of initiative that clears this up. Because medical travel seems to be a challenging issue and it appears, clearly, that it’s complicated as well. So what initiatives are being done to examine medical travel and make sure it’s clearly laid out for the public what they qualify for and don’t qualify for? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The rules are quite clear about what our residents are eligible for. If they are getting medical or doctor services, they get medical travel associated with that, and there are some extended health benefits where they will be entitled to medical travel. So without more specific information, I’m not sure if I know what the Member is referring to. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister I believe last week, in response to one of my questions, said medical travel is under review. I’m just wondering what is specifically “under review.” We’ve even got a letter that had been sent not that long ago to our offices that said it’s being reviewed. So what type of review process is medical travel under at this time, and is the Medical Travel Policy posted for all who wish to see it on either a website or some type of government access? Thank you.
Absolutely, there is detailed information on the Department of Health and Social Services’ website on the Medical Travel Policy and what the public needs to know about what it does. The same with the extended health benefits or any other programs and services that the department provides.
The review we are undertaking doesn’t have to do with who qualifies for medical travel or not because that part is clear. What we want to do is to make sure that our system is working the way it was meant to be, that everyone who is eligible for service get them in a way that is smooth, and that our practitioners are keeping in close touch with the files so that there’s seamless service delivery to our residents, that there is proper follow-up and checkup, and that when referrals are made that they are looked into. So we’re working to make sure that our system runs efficiently. Thank you.
I’d like to know what type of appeal process is involved in medical travel. In other words, if you’re denied housing, there’s a housing appeal; if you’re denied some other type, maybe educational subsidy or income support subsidy, there’s an appeal process. What type of appeal process is involved with medical travel other than having to run it up the flagpole to the Minister’s office every single time?
Under the current system there is no appeal process for medical travel. The way the system is set up is that the health insurance office looks at the policy, looks at the guidelines and they apply the policy accordingly.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m really glad to hear we have the policy office, because I suspect they never make a mistake so that’s why we have no appeal process. It’s sad to say that we don’t live in a perfect world, so I guess my question would be to the Minister, then, is what’s stopping us from setting up an appeal process if a person is denied medical travel so we don’t have to drag it to the Assembly floor time after time after time again and we can deal with it probably in a peer review process, especially when a lot of things are denied when they have medical letters supported by doctors’ signatures that say that they need something done? Mr. Speaker, what’s stopping the Minister from setting up an appeal process? Thank you.
I think we should be mindful of the fact that we serve about 40,000 people in the Territories and by and large the service delivery goes smoothly. I do appreciate that I get a number of files across my desk and the MLAs get them as well. But if you compare that, a few dozen a year to 40,000-plus people that we serve, and the satisfaction reports that we’ve been getting, I think the service is satisfactory that way.
Now, people are always not going to like being told that they can’t take medical travel for this and that, and it might not have anything to do with the fact of whether it’s right or not. It’s just the fact of being told you can’t do it. But according to the policy, in fact, they might not be eligible for that service because it’s not something that we cover under the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
