Medical travel is being reviewed

Medical travel is sure useful when we need it, eh?

Nobody says it’s perfect, but man it’s a relief when we’re sent out for services that are not available in our home community, whether we live in a smaller place or in Yellowknife.

For me it started back in 2011, when I had a stent inserted into my artery to increase the blood flow to my heart. I had tests done in Yellowknife, then was sent to Edmonton, where it was confirmed my arteries were clogged like an old drainage pipe. Eschia, take it easy, eh!

Doctors went through an artery in my wrist up to the blocked area and inserted a stent, which is like a small culvert, LOL. When the culvert was in the plugged area, they opened it up and blood started to flow properly to my heart. Woohoo!

Ever since then, I have to go to Edmonton for tests to make sure the stent and my arteries are not getting clogged up again. So, I went to the old Larga House, next to the Kingsway Mall, and I have also recently experienced the new Larga in Leduc, near Edmonton’s airport.

The new place is a huge improvement. I was pleased to see I had a nice big room with my own bathroom. Hooray. I did not have to have a roommate. All right! And it has a huge dining area.

Yes, it’s far from Edmonton, but I told myself, “You are here for medical issues, not to go shopping.” They also have a bus that will take us to the West Edmonton Mall at 1 p.m. and bring us back at 7 p.m.

Travel policy is being reviewed

The medical travel policy covers a person’s costs to travel for medical care that is not available in your community. But like I said, it’s not perfect and people complain about the system.

You’ll be glad to hear that the Minister of Health and Social Services Lesa Semmler recently met with the Standing Committee on Social Development and told MLAs that the policy is being reviewed to make it more “compassionate.”

Semmler’s staff presented a PowerPoint indicating that common travel issues include:

-escort decisions

-valid medical referrals

-prior approvals

-flying out early

-preferred airlines and accommodation

MLAs also raised that some people are refused a medical escort even when medical staff recommend an escort.

The policy is complicated. For instance, it only kicks in when it’s not covered by another insurance plan, such as private third-party insurance, Métis Health Benefits Policy, federal Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) for First Nations and Inuit people, and employer-sponsored plans, like GNWT and federal employees have.

If the person is not eligible under these plans, medical travel will pay for the trip and the medical treatment, so long as the patient:

-is an NWT resident

-has a valid NWT health card

-has a medical referral from within the NWT

-the Medical Travel Office approves travel before the travel

Non-medical escorts

Often a person will need an escort to help them. To be approved for a non-medical escort, a patient has to be one of the following:

-under the age of 19 and need an escort

-breastfeeding an infant and need an escort

-pregnant and must travel outside their home community to deliver their baby and request an escort

-have a mental or physical disability so they aren’t able to travel unassisted

-their referring healthcare provider indicates that the person travelling for an initial diagnosis or initial appointment for a life-threatening illness needs an escort to help the patient understand their plan of care or treatment options

-need an escort for interpretation during travel

-their attending physician at the treatment facility asks for an escort to participate in a treatment program, so the escort can learn how to care for the patient after they are discharged

Time difference poses issues

Another big problem is that approval for escorts for First Nations and Inuit people comes from Ottawa, through NIHB. Apparently, the two-hour time difference causes problems and the office is not open on weekends or after 5 p.m. Eastern time.

Semmler said, “If you’re seeing a practitioner on a Friday and they’re saying you need to travel Monday… and they need an escort, you may not get that approval for that ticket to fly out on Monday.”

To boot, the policy usually does not allow an escort to fly aboard same plane as the person who is being medevaced.

“We can’t put escorts on the actual air ambulance,” said Tim Van Overliw, a health authority representative. “It’s only very rare cases where there’ll be eligibility for an individual on the air ambulance.”

Usually, after a person is in the hospital, an escort will be flown over if doctors say the patient needs someone there with them.

Escorts will also be flown down when the medevaced person is leaving the hospital and needs an escort, if the patient’s situation becomes life-threatening, or there’s something else that the policy covers.

So, the GNWT is doing a “gap analysis” and will review medical travel escort criteria, per diem rates and long-term medical travel policy options.

The results will be used to develop policy options and then the GNWT will consult on them with Indigenous governments, the standing committee and other Interested parties.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to hearing what they come up with.