The NDP is calling for increased subsidies for medical travel for Yukoners.

“People get $150 a day to pay for everything they need away from home: food, hotel room, and transportation,” party leader Kate White told the legislature last Thursday.

“Anyone who has booked a hotel in the last few years knows that rooms under $150 a night are hard to come by.

“That means that people are forced to pay out of pocket, borrow money from friends, or take money out of their savings, all to access the medical care they need,” White added.

“Will the minister increase the medical travel subsidy to reflect the actual cost of travelling?”

Health and Social Services Minister Tracy Anne-McPhee said it was “relatively recently that the medical travel subsidy was increased to $155 per day from $75 per day, where it had only started on the second day. It was doubled under our government. It begins on the first day, and that is what is available at this time to Yukoners.”

White then took a shot at the previous Yukon Party government.

“The medical travel subsidy is still far from being enough. People should not have to pay out-of-pocket for essential health care, and throwing a few rocks into the giant pit left by the Yukon Party is not enough anymore, after six years of (the Liberals) being in government,” she said.

“So many of the policies for medical travel simply do not make sense.”

She cited medical travel being denied to a woman waiting for a double lung transplant. The matter was resolved after the media got involved.

But now medical travel officials have denied her husband’s medical escort subsidy.

White said that was “despite the fact that her transplant team was very clear: she cannot live on her own. It is not just risky; it’s impossible.

“Again, this is just one of the latest examples, but it is far from being the only one.”

But McPhee said White “does not have the most recent facts” about the couple’s case.

McPhee then revealed that an increase to the travel subsidy is on its way, with the daily rate going up to $166.

White said the government “could work with one or multiple hotels in Vancouver, or where required, and secure a block rate for Yukoners travelling for medical reasons.

“Block rates are typically cheaper than the regular rate. Will the minister work with hotels near hospitals Yukoners most frequent to secure block rates for Yukoners?”

McPhee replied that her government has accepted all 76 recommendations of the Putting People First health care initiative and is “working to implement them, incorporating the feedback from Yukoners through that process.

“I am very pleased to say that a number of the elements of Putting People First have already been implemented, including the advice about medical travel.”

Following question period, Opposition Leader Currie Dixon said one of the big things in Putting People First “was the proposal to create lodges, both in Whitehorse and in southern hubs where many Yukoners travel for medical reasons, like Vancouver … we’ve always been interested in that but would like to see further financial analysis of the proposal for that,” Dixon added.

“But this idea that was presented by the NDP today was a new one … I haven’t seen that proposed in Putting People First or any other documents.

“Whether it’s lodging in Vancouver versus the new idea of a block of hotel rooms, we’d want to see the financial analysis and determine which is the best bang for buck for Yukoners,” he said.

White told reporters, “When it was $75 a day, it just didn’t even come close; $150 or $166 is not enough.”

She used an example of when she escorted a friend to Vancouver and both had to pay $250 a night for a hotel room.

“I didn’t qualify for medical subsidy for the first day and I didn’t qualify for the third day, which means that we had $300 for one night.

“She had $150 for another night and that didn’t cover the $50 taxi that we shared with two other Yukoners from the airport to the hotel or from the hotel to the airport,” the NDP leader said.

“An increase is important, sure. But is it adequate? It’s not.”

White said all she saw were Yukoners in her hotel lobby – all there for medical travel.

“If I can book hotels for a wedding and get a discount, surely the Yukon government will know how many people on average are gone every single day of the week for medical travel.

“Why aren’t we looking at blocking even 10 rooms? Or 15 rooms?” she asked.

Most people, she added, “do not go to Vancouver for medical travel and view it as a vacation. It is not fun. It is quite stressful.

“We’re talking about the emotional cost. We’re talking about the energy cost.”

White said it would be “fantastic” if the government would create a medical lodge in Whitehorse for medical travellers from the communities to stay in, as well as in other Outside locations like Vancouver.

“There was a commitment in 2021 for the Liberals to develop a medical lodge here in the Yukon, in Whitehorse,” she recalled. “That hasn’t happened.”

Every week, she said, someone calls her office, wondering how they’re going to cover the cost of medical travel.

“If I travel as a politician, my rate is substantially higher than if you were to travel for medical travel … I don’t think it’s fair. Do I think we should look at it in a different way? Absolutely.”

McPhee told reporters, “We are working very diligently to change the way and evolve the way and transform our health care system to make sure that it is responsive to Yukoners’ needs. We’re working hard to make real improvements in the system. Putting People First is our roadmap.

“We really inherited a crumbling health care system, and COVID only made it worse,” McPhee added.

She also supplied some numbers of people travelling for medical reasons.

In fiscal year 2022-23, there were over 3,600 people. Of those, over 2,900 travelled out of the territory.

There were 350 medivac cases in 2022-23, including 300 out-of-territory cases.

In 2021-22, around 3,500 people travelled for medical reasons. Of those, over 2,000 went outside the territory.