NUNAVUT - Territory-managed private insurance may be the best alternative to the current health benefit system, which some residents assert is discriminatory, says Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliot.

Alex Campbell, deputy minister of health, says that the GN is working to improve communication to residents. - Erika Sherk/NNSL photo Nunavut health coverage Non-insured health benefits not covered under Nunavut health insurance but funded by the federal government for First Nations and Inuit include: Prescription drugs Medical transportation, meals and lodging Dental care, including orthodontics Medical supplies (ex. wheelchairs, prosthetics, orthotics) Eye exams and prescription eyeglasses Crisis intervention counselling Extended Health Benefits not covered under Nunavut health insurance but funded by the Government of Nunavut for Metis and non-aboriginal residents over 65 without private insurance: Prescription drugs Medical travel Dental care Hearing aids and prescription eyeglasses

Health benefits have become a hot topic in Nunavut since a retired priest was hit with a $34,000 bill for his stay in a medical boarding house in Ottawa over the past eight months.

"People are just worried," said Elliot. "I find there's a lot of confusion."

Mike Gardener, a 79-year-old longtime resident of Iqaluit, received the bill for his stay in a medical boarding home after escorting his wife south for medical treatment. The bill has since been covered by the territorial government under the extended health benefits plan, which covers elderly residents. Gardener, though a long-time Northerner, is not Inuit and so does not qualify for Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB).

Elliot is preparing questions to bring to the legislature when the session opens in November, he said. He plans to ask if a solution might be found in having the territorial government arrange a group policy through a private company for those not covered by the NIHB.

Gardener's case has raised questions of racial discrimination against non-Inuit in the territory but Alex Campbell, deputy health minister, said people simply don't understand the system.

"This is not about race; we're not being hard on anybody," Campbell said in an interview. "It's just a matter of programs and services that are not fully explained to people."

"That's where we may have erred on our part," he said, adding that his department is working to improve that.

People get confused by the differing insurance available to Inuit and non-Inuit, Campbell said.

Non-Insured Health Benefits - the most comprehensive - are for land claims beneficiaries only, paid for by the federal government.

"The only reason we have the NIHB under our government is because we administer the program for Health Canada," Campbell said.

Non-beneficiaries have their basic needs covered by their Nunavut health cards and then must pay for private health insurance - through their employer or by signing up with a private company.

Frank May has lived on Baffin Island for 30 years, the last 23 spent in Arctic Bay. A non-Inuk, he is worried about what might happen to him when he retires from his job at the power corporation and loses his health insurance as a government of Nunavut employee.

"I'm like everyone else trying to grasp around and figure out what is available and what isn't," he said. "Information is kind of patchy."

He's planning to look into private health insurance if need be, he said, to make sure he's covered. He understands that the NIHB is for beneficiaries only, he said.

"I don't want to come out and say, 'yeah, they ought to cover us,'" May said. "Although I've often thought it would be nice if, after a certain number of years, you'd become an honorary Inuk."

Elliot said he's been thinking the same thing.

"Something I'd like to see starting to happen is the idea of long-term residency," he said. Residents who have spent a certain number of years in the territory could receive more extensive health benefits, he said. This could include the big ticket medical costs - trips down south for treatment unavailable in the territory. People have to remember, he said, that choosing to come to Nunavut means accepting a life different from down south.

"We're always talking about Nunavut being a unique situation and a unique way of living so this is just another thing that translates into how we live our day to day life."

Campbell said Health and Social Services is working to create more clarity surrounding benefits and frontline health staff have all been instructed to provide more information to patients.