Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wanted to talk about health coverage for certain medical conditions and the problems facing northerners without health insurance who cannot afford their course of required treatment.
Mr. Speaker, when we look at the differences between what is covered for treatment for children born with cleft palate and one who's born with club foot, you'll get a sense of frustration being experienced by one of my constituents in them trying to get treatment for their child. Either situation is very unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, but if you were born with a cleft palate, you would expect the government to pay the cost of surgeries, any required speech therapy, and any subsequent dental costs or devices related to this diagnosis. If you were born with a club foot, however, Mr. Speaker, the government will pay the cost of surgery and hospital stay and they will start to cover the cost of your cast. However, that's where it ends, Mr. Speaker. They will not pay for the cost for the braces or shoes that are required down the road for that treatment surgery to work.
I have to ask, at what point of being involved is it really worth it, Mr. Speaker, because we should cover this treatment from start to finish. This situation points to the need for the Supplementary Health Benefit Program which, I understand, a review is currently under way, Mr. Speaker, to be addressed and to start to look at the seriousness of conditions being left out, Mr. Speaker. We need to be supportive of all medical treatments that are being left out.
I am probably not painting the picture of the department in the best light on this issue because there are gaps in our system, but I have to admit that the health officials are
trying to work with this family to recover, to fill in those gaps to cover the cost of the situation. For this I'm very grateful and I hope to hear soon of a satisfactory resolution on the family's process.
This Assembly has a vision of self-reliant individuals, families sharing the rewards and responsibilities of a healthy community and a prosperous and unified Northwest Territories. To accomplish this we need a government who needs to help their residents when required support is definitely needed.
Mr. Speaker, we tell our children out there that the world is theirs for the taking, but government policy is holding them back. Mr. Speaker, in closing, we need to put people first before paperwork, Mr. Speaker, especially when it comes to our children. Thank you.
---Applause