I recognize that time is valuable and that people give it up to be medical escorts. My concern is about the cost. We mirror NIHB to our whole population. We have about 18,000 medical travel trips a year, not all of them with escorts. Maybe about a quarter of them are with escorts. That would be a considerable extra expense for the Government of the Northwest Territories, even if the NIHB covered all of the NIHB clients.
Our health system is in a deficit. That deficit has been growing every year, so I'm concerned about that. While I recognize the value of offering payment to someone who is giving up their personal time, maybe an honorarium would be a more affordable way to do it.
This is a challenging question. I understand that it comes with a good intention, but I'm concerned with the cost.
Thank you.