Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he will ask for a review of a case where a man from Sprague has been stuck with a large bill from health facilities in the United States.

The man had a heart incident and, as is common for people in the southeast corner of Manitoba, he was taken to hospital in Roseau, Minnesota. The doctor told the man he needed emergency treatment and tried to make arrangements to fly him back to Manitoba for the procedure. But after waiting 90 minutes, the man says he was forced to make a decision to risk waiting longer or getting the treatment in Grand Forks which is what he did. He ended up with $118,000 in medical bills which the province has refused to cover.

Health Minister Goertzen says, according to law, he has no power to directly intervene in cases under the Health Services Insurance Act. But he will ask for a review that includes taking a look at the policy that covers people in the southeast who go to hospital Roseau for emergency treatment.

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Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen"This is a problem and I'm certainly concerned about this situation. I'm going to be asking for a review, both of this specific case, and I can't get into too many of the details and I don't have too many of the details, but I will be asking for a review of this specific case, but will also be looking at a review of the agreement overall to see how we avoid these misunderstandings from happening."

Goertzen notes a lot has changed since the agreement was first put together.

"This was crafted in about 1997 so it is almost a 20-year-old agreement. Health care was quite different 20 years ago and the delivery of it in southeastern Manitoba was different. We didn't have things like STARS and different sorts of facilities that are doing different things now within the southeast. So I think it is time to take a look at this agreement and find out why, almost annually, there is somebody who is getting left a bill that they didn't expect."

He points out there have been nine or ten such cases over the past decade. Goertzen is especially curious to find out why patients are not getting adequate information about what the policy covers.

"How is that people who are involved, both in the health care system and also residents, aren't given a clear understanding about what it means if you are going to be sent to a hospital in the U.S. that isn't covered under this agreement. Clearly there's not good information being provided on both sides. And, you don't want to have to have somebody, who is in a dire situation, trying to fight for their life, making the decision at that point. They have to have the understanding long before that, or their family does."