Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a Return to Written Question 32-20(1) asked by the Member for Range Lake on February 24th, 2026, regarding medical travel costs, budget pressures, and travel volumes.
The Member asked for an outline of the specific factors that are driving the cost increases for medical travel services year after year.
Scheduled air travel, the new air ambulance contract in 2025-2026, and increased use of boarding homes are the three largest contributors to growth in expenditures over the past five years. Increased volume of travel and inflation have also contributed to the increased costs.
The previous air ambulance contract was in effect for ten years, and costs were capped by annual inflation adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index. However, the aviation and medical industries experienced inflation that outpaced the Consumer Price Index over the final years of the previous contract. A large year-over-year correction was anticipated in 2025-2026 for the start of the new air ambulance contract.
Much of the increase in scheduled air travel expenditure is due to the increase in dental travel, primarily for clients eligible under Non-Insured Health Benefits. Non-Insured Health Benefits dental travel is fully recoverable from Indigenous Services Canada. Later today, at the appropriate time I will table a document outlining this data.
The Member asked for a general breakdown of the annual medical travel budget into major cost categories such as flights, accommodations, escorts, and administrative processing so the public can understand where the program is coming under financial strain. This breakdown is also captured in the document to be tabled later today.
The Member asked if the Department tracks cases in which residents travel for medical purposes without prior approval; and, if so, how many such cases occurred in the last fiscal year.
Through the appeals application and decision-making process at the Department of Health and Social Services, cases are documented in which residents travel for medical purposes without prior approval. In many of these instances, residents subsequently appeal the Medical Travel Office’s decision to deny reimbursement due to the lack of pre-approval.
There are also cases where residents do not submit an appeal; the number of these cases is unknown. In the 2025–2026 fiscal year, there were 30 documented cases of residents travelling without prior approval from the Medical Travel Office.
The Member asked how many medical travel requests, both scheduled and emergency, were submitted in the last fiscal year, and how does that compare to the average volume over the previous five years.
In fiscal year 2024-2025, Medical Travel handled 23,009 travel cases, an increase of 36.6% or 5,912 cases compared to an average of the previous three fiscal years. Dental travel cases accounted for almost 50% of this increase. Excluding dental travel, Medical Travel handled 17,857 cases in 2024-2025, an increase of 20.8% or 3,069 cases compared to an average of the previous three fiscal years. In 2024-2025, there were 1,665 medevacs, a decrease of 7.3% or 131 medevacs compared to an average of the previous three fiscal years. This data is also captured in the document being tabled later today.
The Member asked for the number and percentage of medical travel requests denied last fiscal year, along with the top categories of reasons for denial.
There is no available data indicating how many travel requests were denied. However, common reasons for denial include the patient not being a resident of the Northwest Territories or not actively enrolled in the Northwest Territories Health Care Plan, travel benefits not being approved prior to travel, or the medical service being provided through a private clinic without the required prior approval from the Department of Health and Social Services. Additional reasons for denial include situations where the medical or dental service requires approval from a supplementary health benefit provider, such as Non-Insured Health Benefits or Alberta Blue Cross for dental services or prosthetic fittings, and that approval was not obtained, where the appointment was not sought at the Nearest Centre as outlined in the Medical Travel Policy, or where travel originated outside the Northwest Territories and did not meet the parameters of the Medical Travel Policy.
