We do have a number of revisions to the medical travel policy currently under development. I hope to share those proposed revisions with the standing committee in the next couple of weeks, if not next month for sure.
I can tell you that increasing financial supports for non-medical escorts is not one of the proposed changes, so compensating them for time away from work is not one of the changes that we are proposing. As part of our work, Mr. Speaker, we have reviewed medical travel programs from across the country as well as other jurisdictions. Except for Nunavut, the benefits that we are providing here are far greater than most other jurisdictions. We are basically on par with Nunavut. Our system needs to rely on friends and family supporting patients who are required to travel. Further, Mr. Speaker, our system is designed to help offset the costs, not cover the costs or cover all costs. If patients aren't able to find an escort to support them in their medical travel journey, the authority will work with patients to help develop solutions.
I should also note, Mr. Speaker, that in 2016-2017 we had over 5,500 medical travel cases where an escort was involved. Increasing benefits or compensating escorts for their time away from work would have a significant impact on system costs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.