Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about a situation of a Northerner who is caught between her dental care plan and the NWT Health Care Plan. It is a very unfortunate situation. She has a tumor in her mouth. Her dentist referred her to a dental surgeon. The dental surgeon had said she needs a biopsy and likely a removal of this growth. The reality of the situation is that care can only be provided in the South. The bad news is her dental plan won’t pay for that. They see it as a medical problem.
Mr. Speaker, so we are all assuming that she now needs to start again in the system while her family physician will have to look over this file and try to get access through the NWT Health Care Plan, but we don’t know for sure. Of course, the obvious fear is that the Health Care Plan will turn around and label it a dental problem.
Her appointment is scheduled by the specialist for April 2nd of this year, so time is short. Help and
support will be needed from the Department of Health and Minister Lee. Mr. Speaker, I can only hope that this problem doesn’t follow the usual pace, what I often describe as moving at the speed of government. Mr. Speaker, I assure you that is no compliment. I am hopeful that her family physician will respect the treatment recommendations of the dental surgeon and refer this patient to get the biopsy and, if necessary, the surgery to remove this tumor. But as we all know, paperwork is paperwork. The thing to consider is if this tumor was anywhere else on her body, it would be covered immediately and there would be no questions asked. Hopefully, the GNWT Health Care Plan and the Medical Travel Plan will accept this and, indeed, help her through this system of process. Hopefully, no one
will try to squabble with the patient’s insurer about treatment and the payment method while she sits idly by on the sidelines waiting for a clear decision of responsibility. I’m hopeful common sense will prevail.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I hope the Minister today can confirm that this dental care has become medical care and that she will help this person through the system to make sure that this specialist appointment won’t be missed, with one organization pointing fingers at another, that she so desperately needs. Mr. Speaker, assistance from the Department of Health is needed and all we need to hear is that she will look into it and help them through this problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.