The Town Hall Meetings will include background information that has been gathered on the programs, as well as the opportunity for dialogue on potential changes that are being considered by the Department of Health and Social Services.
The schedule for the public meetings will be as follows:
Tuesday, March 23rd – Fort Simpson
Thursday, March 25th – Hay River
Monday, March 29th – Inuvik
Tuesday, March 30th – Norman Wells
Thursday, April 1st – Fort Smith
Wednesday, April 7th – Yellowknife
Additionally, community groups with a specific interest in the programs are invited to contact the Department of Health and Social Services to book additional sessions.
“We have one of the best health and social services systems in Canada,” said Minister of Health and Social Services Sandy Lee. “NWT residents have access to more insured and uninsured health services than most Canadians, and we are talking about these programs because we want to ensure that we sustain this access to quality health care.”
There are three existing Supplementary Health Benefits programs. The Seniors’ Benefits Program has been developed to ensure that seniors have access to the uninsured health services that they need. The Extended Health Benefits for Specified Medical Conditions have been developed to help individuals and families with high medical costs related to certain types of chronic illness. The Indigent Health Benefits program exists to help Northerners with very low income to cover the cost of uninsured health services.
