Kids, caregivers eligible for up to $2K for out of Sask. medical costs

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Saskatchewan families with children travelling out of province for medical treatment are set to receive some compensation from the province.

“Expenses covered include the cost of transportation by airline or car, hotels or stays with family members and meals up to $2,000 per trip,” according to a government news release issued Wednesday afternoon.

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Pediatric patients 16 years and younger, as well as their caregiver, are eligible retroactively to April 1 of this year.

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“We listen to families, we listen to kids, and we listen to frontline health-care providers,” Minister of Health Everett Hindley said from the floor of the assembly Wednesday.

The announcement came as a result of meetings with families, explained Hindley. He acknlowedged the need other Saskatchewan patients have for the same kind of travel, but emphasized this particular program “is specific to kids.”

The criteria is still being hammered out as Saskatchewan looks to other provinces to see what their policies look like. The treatment must be medically necessary and not available in Saskatchewan, the news release notes.

“This is something that requires a referral,” Hindley said, adding the 16-year age cap is keeping in line with the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital definition of a child.

NDP rural and remote health critic Jared Clark questioned the timing of the announcement.

“Many families in need have been raising this issue for months,” Clarke said in a statement made Wednesday. “It’s sad that Moe’s minister waited to address it until the day before his appearance on the Evan Bray show, where he was expected to get grilled on this exact issue.”

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“After 17 years of Sask. Party mismanagement, doctors are leaving and more Saskatchewan people are forced to travel out of province for health care that used to be offered at home,” the statement continued.

There are some procedures that simply aren’t performed in Saskatchewan, the health minister noted, and while coverage is offered for the procedures themselves, this fund marks the first time the province will assist with travel expenses.

Hindley says the government is working hard to recruit and retain health care providers in Saskatchewan but knows that they “are not going to be able to provide absolutely” within the province’s borders.

“I don’t think that’s realistic,” he said.

The province is still determining whether clients on Saskatchewan Income Support and Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability will be able to access this support.

Women travelling to a private clinic in Calgary for mammograms are not eligible, but will receive a $1,500-travel and accommodation reimbursement for each patient plus one support individual through a different funding arrangement.

alsalloum@postmedia.com

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