Pubdate: 10 Sep 2011
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact: letters@herald.ca
Website: http://thechronicleherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Webpage: http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1262484.html
Author: Brian Medel

New welfare rules worry researcher

N.S. policy may harm those with chronic illnesses

A move by Nova Scotia's Community Services Department to streamline
delivery of some social assistance benefits may have increased pain and
suffering for some recipients with chronic illness, one researcher
suggests.

Under employment support and income assistance regulations, a government
case worker may have allowed a person on social assistance to receive a
special drug or therapy not usually covered if it was needed to alleviate
pain and suffering.

That section was repealed last month, said Barbara Blouin, who wrote
reports in the 1980s about single mothers and the poor on social
assistance.

"What people are entitled to (is) fairly narrow already; a supervisor has
had the ability to override (regulations) when she or he thinks there's
just cause," said Blouin.

"This is relating to people with chronic illness or disabilities and their
need for medicine or some kind of medical treatment or even medical
marijuana.

"If it's on the (approved) Pharmacare list, they should be able to get it.
If it's not on the Pharmacare list, then the only way they could get it is
for the supervisor to override that.

"When the supervisor loses that ability, that changes the whole thing."

Janet Rathbun, director of income assistance for the Community Services
Department, acknowledged that the regulation referring to alleviating pain
and suffering had been repealed.

"The supervisor still has the ability to protect the health and safety of
an applicant or preserve the dwelling. . . . We just renumbered those," she
said.

"The reason we took it out is (because) pain and suffering was never
clearly understood and staff and clients had asked us what that meant.
Certainly our staff don't have the medical expertise to determine that."

Blouin said the wording was clear and questioned the need to clarify it
more.

She said the Community Services Department has increased the pain and
suffering of many with chronic illness by restricting access to some drugs,
medical marijuana and other treatments.

The Health Department determines what drugs are required for a social
assistance recipient and the Community Services Department covers the cost,
Rathbun said.

If a drug is on an approved list, it is covered. If not, the Health
Department has an exception process and a different medication may be
approved, upon a request from a physician, Rathbun said.

About 75 per cent of social assistance recipients require prescription
medications for ongoing therapy or one-time requirements, said Rathbun.

She said about 29,000 households -- 44,000 people -- receive social
assistance benefits.

A list from the department says some items have been provided to clients
that were not mentioned in regulations in 25 cases. One is identified as
"grow-op equipment."