Labrador families travelling for medical reasons say aid program is more stressful than helpful
Medical travel assistance program is failing Labradorians, says MHA
When Kelly Hodge and her partner of Labrador City had to take their three-year-old daughter, Hannah, to Halifax for surgery, they turned to the provincial medical transportation assistance program for help with the expensive travel.
But although the program is meant to provide financial assistance to people facing high medical travel costs, Hodge says applying for help has been more stressful than helpful.
"If my daughter needed more critical medical care, we would move," said Hodge. "We would have to move. There's no way we could keep up with that, the cost of just continuously coming and going."
Some Labrador families who have had to travel for medical appointments and procedures are speaking out about a program they say does not always fulfil its intended purpose.
Hodge says she and her husband both had to take time off work to travel with Hannah to Halifax in October 2021, because the procedure she needed wasn't available at the Janeway children's hospital in St. John's.
She says the family spent around $6,000 on flights to Nova Scotia and then had to travel to St. John's for a checkup appointment a week later. Although she and her partner were both insured through work, says Hodge, only one travel companion is covered through the provincial program, known as MTAP.
Out of the amount of money they paid up front, says Hodge, only about one-third of the costs were covered.
"So you have to either pay for it or not have an extra hand when you're away," she said. "Well, I couldn't have imagined going through what we did when my daughter, my three-year-old at the time, needed surgery without him with me.… You also can't claim any kind of medical assistance if you're on annual vacation."
Costly travels
Labrador West NDP MHA Jordan Brown is advocating for a review of MTAP, a program he says is failing the people of Labrador and leaving them paying thousands of dollars to receive medical care.
"Here in my office we get calls about people who are calling the Salvation Army looking for plane tickets," said Brown. "We have people who are calling the ministerial association looking for plane tickets or their local pastor."
Tammy Locke's 27-year-old daughter, Brihanna, is non-verbal and has a disability. Despite that, she says, MTAP wanted proof that Brihanna needed to have a companion with her while travelling for medical purposes.
When the two travelled in January, says Locke, the Labrador West Ministerial Association offered to pay for their tickets — $2,616 — after she asked her church asking for help. She says completing the complex forms and paperwork for MTAP can be stressful and exhausting.
"Even with the MTAP program, unless everything is perfect, there's no money coming back," said Locke, who's from Labrador City. "They keep sending you back rejection. At one point, even when I applied under Brihanna's income support program, I was told that in most cases, everything is declined the first time and you have to appeal it and a decision will be made at that time."
In a statement to CBC News, the Department of Health and Community services said it's reviewing MTAP, including its policies, procedures and forms.
"The goal is to have a simplified policy that clearly communicates the process and provides efficiencies and improvements to client service," the statement said.
Next steps
Toby Leon, president of the Labrador West Chamber of Commerce, says high travel costs deter people from moving to Labrador. He says he's heard from friends how expensive medical travel can be and he knows people who have spent $7,500 for one medical procedure.
"One of the key roadblocks to keeping a good solid workforce here for the development of the resources is that people can come and go and at the moment it's prohibitive," said Leon.
"Not only for just a lifestyle, but for serious medical issues, and it really undermines our ability to build on our economy and build a resource development in the area."
Leon says a community-based charter plane system, similar to one in Yellowknife, would be helpful to residents. Brown says he'd like the province to adopt a program similar to one in Quebec, which provides travel vouchers to those flying for medical appointments.
For Labradorians like Locke, she wants the government to be more compassionate.
"The whole process is really, really exhausting," she said. "When you're dealing with medical issues, you shouldn't need to have to fight to get any support back."
With files from Darryl Dinn