Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NIHB is a federal program. The GNWT health department can administer -- sorry, can the Minister explain what the rules make it difficult for eligible NWT residents to access NIHB when they are sick or injured outside the NWT, and does she provide this feedback for the federal government as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for raising this issue. This issue has come up with residents who are using the non-insured health benefits program. The non-insured health benefits program, as you said, is a federal program, so we, on behalf of the federal government, administer parts of their program. Part of the program that we do administer is supporting First Nations and Inuit with medical travel when it's beginning from the Northwest Territories out, and then there's a process that gives them an approval for escorts through that same process when they're leaving the territory as if there is a medical need to leave the territory.
The issue that the Member is raising, and this has been raised in the House, is when people leave the Northwest Territories and they go into another province or a territory, every province and territory has a different agreement with the federal government. Some provinces may not even administer medical -- non-insured health benefits and, therefore, individuals who have status numbers or Inuit N numbers have to deal directly with NIHB and their office -- you know, their federal office.
So when they're leaving, it's very complicated. We try our best to ensure that our staff are very familiar, but I am raising this at every point in every issue, and I'm actually working on a -- because now we have an Indigenous federal minister and, you know, my hope is is that she has the struggles that we all had with NIHB as an Indigenous person from a smaller community, that we will be able to have more fulsome conversations as the understanding of the greater necessity that it should be being able to wherever you are to access NIHB across Canada, that you get the same type of benefits. And so we are continuing to work -- I am continuing to push that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding that the medical travel process is NIHB application, and since the medical travel program modernization is underway, will the new medical travel program include ways of making NIHB more accessible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to -- first, I want to say yes, that is part of the process. The second piece that I just want to explain a little bit more is that one of the things that we struggle with, and this is what usually ends up being the biggest issue that comes to my office when it is an NIHB client, is when the escort is being requested as an exception because it doesn't meet the criteria that the federal government lays out for a non-medical escort, is that we don't have the authority to approve that exception. That exception has to be sent to the federal government, and our staff have to wait on that approval. And they do not work, you know, around the clock like our staff do from 7 to 11 seven days a week, our medical travel staff work. They work the regular office hours in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the short-term, will the Minister work closely with MLAs to sort out constituents who are struggling with NIHB applications when we flag these issues to her office so we can solve the problem faster? Also, Mr. Speaker, is that proper posting and also medical travel insurance is much needed. Can you maybe help explain that or to your constituents? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think when this issue comes up, what I can say is I'm always willing to work with Members when they bring these issues forward, and I think my office has, you know, even on weekends and everything, has tried to ensure that they are doing their due diligence to turn this issue around. However, sometimes when it's out of our control because it's in a different jurisdiction, then we have no leverage on if they're in a different province. So that means that they have to access the services in that province if they've travelled there on their own, and that's why I think this is important for everybody in the Northwest Territories, you know, especially those who tend to just, you know, weekend trips -- and I know I've said this in the House before, but getting medical travel insurance through -- you know, there's banks and different ways that you can get it. Some credit cards have them. It is vital so that way when you have peace of mind when you're travelling. If you get sick, you know, there's things in those travel things that will help you and support you and support your family while you're there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
