Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, Indigenous Services Canada offers Non-Insured Health Benefits, or NIHB, to First Nations registered under the Indian Act and to Inuit recognized by an Inuit land claim organization. As of March 2019, there are 27,771 N.W.T. residents covered under NIHB in the Northwest Territories. As a beneficiary of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, I myself am eligible for NIHB.

As we all know, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath is one of the symptoms of COVID-19. In early June, because of my personal familiarity with the NIHB process, I had the opportunity to ask officials from the Department of Health about the pre-approval process normally required for certain medications, including inhalers. On June 22, 2020, I was advised in writing by a representative of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Indigenous Services Canada:

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, NIHB has initiated its Business Continuity Plan which includes contingencies for waiving pre-approvals for certain medications, including inhalers.

Senator Gold, I was recently made aware by an N.W.T. resident eligible for NIHB and diagnosed with asthma that they had to obtain NIHB approval before their prescription was filled. I have also been advised of individuals currently sharing their puffers with family members when medications have run out in communities where travel is required to renew a prescription.

I find this deeply worrying.

First, as I have just indicated, not all Northern communities have doctors. Often, obtaining a prescription requires travel by road or plane to a larger centre, which, particularly in the past few weeks as cases begin to creep up in the North, increases the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Second, this experience contradicts the assurances I received from the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch in June, which informed me that:

As of March 19, 2020, NIHB has waived established criteria for many drugs that would normally require prior approval by NIHB’s Drug Exemption Centre. This was to ensure access to needed medications during a time when prescribers may not be available to provide eligibility criteria —

I’ll go to my question.

Senator Gold, is the NIHB business continuity plan, which includes contingencies for waiving prior or pre-approval for certain medications, such as inhalers, still in place? If not, why? If so, how is this being communicated to the health care providers and clients of NIHB?