Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I just note that the supplementary health benefits of the budget is the place where the medical travel budget is located. Medical travel is for people who are referred south for service. That is the purpose of it. So if you're unable to obtain health care in the Northwest Territories, medical travel will get you to the south to get that care. I -- the healthcare cards are -- there is one kind of card for every NWT resident. I am not sure what the Member is referring to in saying that there are different cards f or people in different levels of government. I'm not sure what that's about. So if he can clarify that, maybe I can try answering it. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Minister, for your response. You know, those are the comments that I hear from my constituents in the community where there are different types of care when we have these healthcare cards. So what I hear is that the military is treated with that same healthcare card like everybody else, but they're treated a little bit different because of -- maybe because they're with the military here in Canada. And then you got the other one that is the GNWT employees that, you know, they pay into a better healthcare system. And then you got the -- you know, the basic healthcare card for everybody in the community. So what I mean by that, Mr. Minister, is that there's -- or Madam Minister, is that, you know, like, the GNWT gets a full meal coverage; they get their hotel coverage; the car rental coverage, etcetera. But then, you know, we got my members that are, you know -- that are just -- that don't pay into this GNWT plan, then they get the basic minimal coverage from health on the, say for example, the food. They get -- I don't know. They said they get a day -- I don't know. $20 a day or whatever it might be. But, again, it's just -- it's just a different type of service. And then so maybe if the Minister could help maybe clarify that so I understand it. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think the Member is talking about employer benefits. So the Government of Canada would have employer benefits for its staff. The GNWT has employer benefits for its staff. NIHB provides benefits to Indigenous people who are First Nations and Inuit. Metis health benefits are specifically for Metis beneficiaries. And then the rest of the population are just covered -- either covered by the basic hospital and physician services, which are provided free of charge to everyone or, in some cases, they don't have benefits at all. We know that there are at least 2,300 people in the Northwest Territories who don't have any form of employer benefit, and so they have no drug coverage, no vision, no dental, no medical appliances, nothing. So these employer benefits do vary according to who is providing them. And some are certainly more -- what could I say? More generous than others. And so if you compared GNWT benefits to NIHB benefits, certainly it would be better if you had GNWT benefits. But as I say, those are -- those relate to your employment. So the only way to access GNWT benefits is to work for the GNWT. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Minister, for that clarification. But we got 33 communities in the Northwest Territories, and we don't have a lot of government jobs in our communities. So, you know, I'm -- so it makes it really tough for constituent members in our communities that really need the care and services of the healthcare card that we have. But I just wanted to maybe let the Minister know that if -- I think -- you know, if there's a way we could take a look at the medical travel policy and maybe have a thorough review of this policy so that -- I know it's a tough job that you have. I know that, you know, you got to follow these policies. But sometimes in special circumstances, I mean, you probably use your discretion and that kind of thing, but at the end, you know, we hear all these stories up and down the valley and it's really frustrating, you know. But, again, you have a tough job. You know, but at the same time, if there's a way we could probably maybe even -- you know, work together and try to improve this policy. And, you know, nine times out of ten too it's all about funding. You know, how is this funded. You know, we probably don't even get enough money from Ottawa on this kind of stuff too as well. So, anyway, I just wanted to -- maybe the Minister could maybe just elaborate a little bit maybe about some ideas about how we can improve this medical travel policy. Mahsi.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for the question. So the following areas are being reviewed right now. Medical travel, escort criteria, and that's one where I get a lot of questions. The exceptions policy which is where the policy can be varied to include people who don't fit into the other criteria. We are reviewing the per diem rates for people who aren't staying at the boarding facility. So right now the accommodation per diem is $50, which is obviously not adequate for a hotel. We also want to establish a long-term medical travel policy. This is for people, for example, who are receiving cancer treatment or rheumatology services or anything else which occurs regularly. There are a couple of other ones as well. Establishing an air ambulance policy for emergency medical transportation and establishing a formal nearest centre policy, which right now is not written down.

So I understand what the Member is saying. There is really a two tier system. There are the GNWT and the Government of Canada benefits, which are more generous than the NIHB benefits. That is a fact. At this point, we subsidize NIHB to the tune of $17 million a year for medical travel and we want to bring that situation to an end. It's money that we can't afford to spend, and it is money that should be spent by the federal government. So there are negotiations ongoing now because that agreement ends at the end of this month. And we partnered with Nunavut to negotiate with the federal government to pay the real cost of medical travel so that we no longer subsidize it. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any other Members that haven't spoken to the health and social programs? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm just wondering where we're at with adult FASD services? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to ask the deputy minister to respond.

Deputy minister Cecchetto.

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Yeah, okay, no, thanks for that information. I think given what we heard from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the changes to income assistance, I think we're probably going to see more demand for that service because people will need to have some proof that they have a disability. So are we prepared to handle more demand for that service over the next while? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister. I'll go back to the deputy minister, please.

Thank you. Deputy minister.

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Okay, yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. And thanks for that answer. I'm just wondering do we actually cover travel costs and if someone needs to come into Yellowknife to get properly diagnosed and so on? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.