REGINA - In response to growing pressure from families on the issue, the provincial government says it will now provide financial assistance to those families whose kids are being referred out of province for specialized medical care.
According to their announcement, the province will reimburse transportation and accommodation expenses for pediatric patients aged 16 and younger, along with a caregiver.
Expenses covered will include costs of transportation by airline or car, costs for hotels or stays with family members, and meals up to $2,000 per trip. This will take effect retroactively to the beginning of the fiscal year April 1, 2024.
Health Minister Everett Hindley pointed to feedback he had received in making the announcement about the change.
"Today, we’re announcing that as a result of meetings we’ve had with families and in consultation with healthcare providers, including the head of paediatrics here in Saskatchewan, that we will be providing financial assistance for families that need to have their kids referred out of province for medically necessary procedures that for whatever reason can’t be provided in Saskatchewan either at this time temporarily. or if it’s a highly specialized procedure or service that perhaps is only provided in one or two locations in Canada, perhaps not in our country.”
The eligibility criteria will be similar to that of other medical treatment sought outside of the province, with prior approval required from the Ministry of Health before travel. The main criteria, according to a news release, is that the surgical or diagnostic treatment must be medically necessary and not available in Saskatchewan; the specialist physician or surgeon who applies for prior approval must also indicate the expected length of stay required for treatment.
Hindley told reporters that the details were still to be worked out on what the approval criteria would be.
“We’re still working on the criteria itself,” said Hindley, who added “this is the first time we have done this. We have looked at some other provinces to see, and it’s been inconsistent in terms of coverage, and what other provinces do, so we’re trying to take a look at what other jurisdictions do, and kind of work out some of those details.”
The plan is to cover the travel expenses for those kids seeking treatment such as for pediatric gastroenterologists, as one example, and other specialties not available in the province. The indication is the age 16 was chosen as the cutoff because that is the same age that Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital uses for determination of who is considered a child under their guidelines.
Hindley also made clear they were still working to fill the pediatric specialist positions still open in the province.
The province has typically covered costs of specialist medical procedures not available in Saskatchewan that are done out of province, but had not up to now covered the travel costs.
The issue of a shortage of medical specialists in the province, including for specialities as pediatric gastroenterologists, has been a hot one for a while in the Legislature. The issue of travel expenses came to the fore at the Legislature last month, as Kaitlyn and Jordi Soron raised the issue of their two year old daughter needing to go to Toronto to get specialist gastroenterology health care services that were not available to them in Saskatchewan. At the time the parents cited mounting costs they faced for having to travel out of province for the specialist treatment.
The parents raised the issue in a meeting with Minister Hindley, who at the time told reporters the current policy was not to cover travel expenses. Kaitlyn Soron had also raised the travel costs issue during a radio interview with Evan Bray earlier this week.
On Thursday, Hindley did point to the meetings he had with patients and families as a factor in the change in policy.
“One of the things that we make sure we do consistently is meet with families and patients across this province, on a variety of issues and concerns and challenges brought to our attention and listen to those people, and work to try and find a way to be collaborative and to find solutions to some of these challenges,” said Hindley.
As an example, he also pointed to the government responding last fall to the challenges about breast cancer care in southern Saskatchewan, with plans to open the Breast Health Centre in Regina.
Official Opposition Rural and Remote Health Critic Jared Clarke issued a statement with respect to the announcement, one in which he pointed out the timing of the policy change happening in advance of Minister Hindley’s own radio appearance on Bray’s show on Thursday.
“After 17 years of Sask. Party mismanagement, doctors are leaving and more Saskatchewan people are forced to travel out of province for healthcare that used to be offered at home. Many families in need have been raising this issue for months and it's sad that (Premier Scott) 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. “
