Yellowknife (May 21/03) - The consent form for the NIHB program isn't something new for health plans, says Health Canada.

"Consent is a requirement for all health plans. Consent is also used to access such things as hospitals, out of country health care coverage and when purchasing employee/private health benefit plans," says Health Canada on its website.

Health Canada says it need names, treaty status number, benefits the client needs to access, why they need to access those benefits and how often they need to access that specific benefit in order to provide payment for users of the program. Health Canada says it collects, uses and discloses personal information for the administration, delivery and management of the NIHB program only.

The government says this is done according to the federal Privacy Act.

Health Canada says that providing consent will not affect any aboriginal or treaty rights.