Yukon Party claims Liberals backtracked on glucose monitoring promise
Government says it never promised permanent funding for continuous glucose monitors for adults
The opposition Yukon Party says the territory's Liberal government is walking back a promise it made to extend continuous glucose monitoring to adults.
Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are devices people with diabetes can wear to get their blood sugar data.
The Liberals made the pledge back in March to secure Yukon Party support for passing the budget. The Yukon Party insists leader Stacey Hassard had a verbal promise from Premier Sandy Silver to extend continuous glucose monitoring to adults.
"That was our condition that we wanted to see for us to adjourn the legislature and get to a vote on the budget, " said Yukon Party MLA Scott Kent.
A March letter from Silver to Hassard promises permanent funding for continuous glucose monitoring for Yukoners up to age 18. But it does not promise CGM for all Type 1 Diabetics.
Under a pilot project, the health department had provided the devices to Type 1 diabetics up to age 25. The government says the adults who participated in that program will continue to be covered, until a glucose monitoring is developed for adults.
But Marney Paradis, president of the Type 1 Diabetes Support Network, said continuous monitoring should be available to everyone who needs it. Paradis said the continuous glucose monitoring costs around $4,000 per person per year in the Yukon.
"We're not talking about a lot of money, but to those individuals that this would affect, we're talking about night-and-day things that make their life that much easier," she said.
Devices not covered by most public health insurance plans
According to Diabetes Canada, CGM is not covered by any provincial or territorial public health insurance plans. The devices are covered for some Ontario residents and for Indigenous people covered by the federal Non-Insured Health Benefits program.
In a letter to the Type 1 Diabetes Support Network in April, Health Minister Pauline Frost wrote the government would design a glucose monitoring program for adults based on published studies, what's offered by other jurisdictions in Canada, and on the advice of a third-party evaluator.
"I understand your disappointment with some of the recommendations," Frost wrote, "however, I assure you that your perspectives and feedback will continue to be considered."
Paradis said that's not good enough.
"We're not stopping until these things are covered for everybody with Type 1 Diabetes in the Yukon," she said. "We have a moral imperative to ensure that people can adequately control their blood glucose level."