{"id":8319,"date":"2024-08-14T10:27:59","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/?p=8319"},"modified":"2024-08-14T10:28:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:28:02","slug":"travel-assistance-program-for-surgical-patients-to-be-extended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/2024\/08\/14\/travel-assistance-program-for-surgical-patients-to-be-extended\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Assistance Program for Surgical Patients to be Extended."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nova Scotians who need to travel to other parts of the province for surgery will continue to receive support for travel and accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Province has extended the In-province Travel Assistance Pilot Program to Support Surgical Access for another year. The program reduces out-of-pocket costs for eligible, lower-income patients who must travel within the province for scheduled surgery, or endoscopy or cystoscopy procedures, including for the day of their surgery\/procedure and some related appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cImproving and increasing access to healthcare includes helping Nova Scotians reduce the financial burden associated with travelling to other parts of the province to receive a surgery or procedure,\u201d said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. \u201cThis program may also help some patients get their surgery or procedure sooner if they can travel to a location with a shorter wait time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pilot, which began June 1, 2023, is extended to May 31, 2025. It provides reimbursement for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>transportation costs at $0.58 per kilometre when using personal vehicles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>accommodation costs of up to $85 per night if travelling more than 50 kilometres (one-way)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>transportation and accommodation costs for someone to travel with the patient if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To be eligible for the program, Nova Scotians must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>have a confirmed surgery, endoscopy or cystoscopy procedure date<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>be on the Nova Scotia Health wait list for surgery, or an endoscopy or cystoscopy procedure<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>be a resident of Nova Scotia with a valid health card<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>have a gross family income of less than $35,000 per year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>not have private insurance that covers travel or accommodation costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>People can apply at:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.novascotia.ca\/surgical-access-initiative-program\">https:\/\/beta.novascotia.ca\/surgical-access-initiative-program<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Providing the care Nova Scotians need and deserve is a key solution in Action for Health, the government\u2019s plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Quick Facts:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>forty-three patients received financial support through the program in 2023-24<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>endoscopy procedures use an endoscope or thin tube to look inside the upper (throat, stomach) or lower (colon, bowel) gastrointestinal tract<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>cystoscopy procedures examine or repair tissues inside the bladder using a cystoscope, a thin tube with a camera and light inserted through the urethra<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Additional Resources:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>News release \u2013 Government Pilots Travel Assistance Program for Surgical Patients:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2023\/05\/25\/government-pilots-travel-assistance-program-surgical-patients\">https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2023\/05\/25\/government-pilots-travel-assistance-program-surgical-patients<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source : Provincial Release <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nova Scotians who need to travel to other parts of the province for surgery will continue to receive support for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10,11,12,13,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-general","category-health","category-latest","category-news","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8320,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8319\/revisions\/8320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnpress.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}