A northwestern Ontario MPP continues to push for improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant.
The NDP’s Judith Monteith-Farrell’s private members bill passed second reading this past week.
Monteith-Farrell wants an advisory committee established to make recommendations to government.
She says her office receives a lot of complaints about the program intended to offset health travel costs.
“Problems with reaching someone to ask a simple question, a clerical error resulting in a beaurocratic runaround, and trouble keeping up with the costs of repeat visits.”
She says the time it takes for people to be reimbursed is one of the big issues.
“The program expects low-income families and seniors on a fixed income to pay for travel costs up front, and out of pocket. For many, this is not just difficult, it is impossible.”
