Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From time to time this particular issue comes up and it’s a question about third-party insurance providers. The question really comes up in the context of whether or not the GNWT accesses that opportunity to help stave off some of the costs that are incurred at Stanton Hospital. Where this specifically arises is if somebody arrives at Stanton and one of the questions quite often asked was, were you hurt at work. So in other words, WCB starts to pick up some of these costs. Of course, then it doesn’t fall on the typical shoulders of our public purse because we have a WCB process that will help with those charges.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what other third-party costs we reach out to help cover some of our costs of health care.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think third-party insurance is something that we will be discussing more and more over the next number of weeks as we do public discussion on the supplementary health benefits. We have done a user profile analysis and we have learned that third-party insurance, when we are talking about third-party insurance we’re not talking about the insurance program that government could enter into but third-party insurance that every individual has access to. Third-party insurance could be WCB, but it could also be employer insurance. If you work for the government or major companies, many of the employers offer insurance as part of their package. There are some private businesses and individuals who choose to take third-party insurance for whatever reason. The information we’ve learned from our research in this area, is that for the NWT residents there are only about 40 percent of people who take advantage of third-party insurance or have third-party insurance, whereas in other provinces we think that it would be up to 70 percent or 80 percent of people at least who would have access or choose to take that, because they would need to do that because the government programs are not as generous.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. When I say this it is not directed at the Minister, it’s the problem. I want to say this can’t be actually taken lightly. People have to be well aware that we could actually be saving a lot of money out of the public purse if we considered this opportunity and in many cases a reality. Is there a policy within the Department of Health and Social Services that when somebody arrives at Stanton or any other health centres, one of the first questions in their information forms that they fill out is do you have third-party insurance that could cover these costs that work with the public health process that we would normally pick up? In essence, I want to ask if we’re asking the people who show up if they have third-party insurance.
I think the Member may be moving ahead of himself there. I guess we could always ask the individuals, but I think we should also recognize that it’s not entirely the individual’s fault in the way we have such a low rate of people having third-party insurance. We have a system where the government pays for core health care services, which is the case all across Canada and we’re not going to change that. But we have historically covered for all of the extended health benefits that an insurance company would do in southern jurisdictions. So there have been no incentives for residents to seek third-party insurance. It’s a shame, really, because those options are available and if the people needed to do it, I’m sure they would look into it more. But we have just built in this incentive and we need to have that conversation with the public.
Actually, I’ve been trying to whittle down to the exact area I’m getting to and I think we’ve now reached the point. I definitely believe heart of hearts that the public system is truly the backstop of what needs to be out there, and by no means am I suggesting that the public system should erode. What I’ve really been trying to whittle down to is this particular point: if somebody arrives at Stanton today and is in a car accident, we don’t ask them if they have third-party insurance. Yet everybody driving a car, in that car, legally, of course, is supposed to have insurance. So in other words, those insurance companies are getting off the hook because the public system is so gracious to cover their costs. But every year people’s insurance goes up and up and up on costs. So my problem really comes down to this: why does our territorial health policy not take into consideration these types of problems of saying, well, wait a minute, you’re legally mandated to have third-party insurance in this particular case such as auto insurance. Why don’t we tap into that first, because they’re already paying for it?
I’m not sure if the Member is asking me about requiring people to have auto insurance. I’m thinking that he’s concentrating on the health insurance. No, we don’t have a system right now where a person goes into...unless they don’t have NWT health care, in which case we’d be interested in how they’re going to pay for it out of their health insurance coverage or their own pocket. As we have the system now, we do not ask people whether they have third-party insurance, because they have never really had to because the GNWT covers for all of their health care if they are eligible under specific conditions or if they’re seniors or if they’re indigent. In fact, we top up those who have third-party insurance for the percentage that they’re not covered with their insurance companies. We are looking to speak to the public about the necessity to consider having third-party coverage for those who can do it. For those who are not eligible because of their condition or because they can’t afford it, then, of course, government will always be there as the safety net to those who need it the most.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect, I don’t think the Minister sees what I’m trying to get at, which is the fact that I agree that the public system is there to top up, I agree that the public system is to back up the person as the backstop, and I definitely agree that the public system is the safety net provided to all our citizens. My fear is that we’re leaving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars or even up to millions of dollars over the course of a number of years that we’re not tapping into the third-party insurance that is legally mandated. I’m not asking her to make sure that people who are driving cars have insurance. I’m telling you the cars that are supposed to be legally on the road are supposed to have insurance. That’s the issue. So there’s insurance covering them so if there’s an accident that person already has insurance for those health-related services. Why aren’t we tapping into that opportunity? That’s the issue. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
I’ll have to find out if our facilities ask in cases where the persons coming in are injured as a result of an accident and whether there might be health care coverage that they should be accessing first. They might be doing that already. I don’t know exactly how it works on the ground. I will ask what questions the providers ask when people come in.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
