Alberta non-verbal woman left in medical coverage limbo due to AHS staff shortage
Posted July 17, 2024 4:01 pm.
Last Updated July 18, 2024 9:33 am.
Deb Hovestad believes Alberta Health Services is doing things backwards.
Her daughter Katie Halldorson, 32, was born with a severe intellectual disability. Halldorson is non-verbal, autistic, incontinent and requires diapers – a medical supply that has been covered by Alberta for 14 years.
Hovestad says her daughter “lives on” Alberta’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH). “So everything that she needs has to come out of that payment.”
Despite no change in Halldorson’s diagnosis this year, Alberta Health is asking she be reassessed to continue receiving coverage, per their policy.
In the meantime, the family is paying out of her own pocket, and have been since March.
“It’s $217 a month that she’s now paying,” the Alberta mom said. “Either her or I have to pay, so that she can continue to have her incontinent briefs.”
Reassessments every four years is standard practice at AHS. But Hovestad says her daughter is forced to wait four to six months because AHS told them there was a staff shortage. Assessments are handled by health-care professionals such as registered nurses with AHS’ Community Aids for Independent Living (CAIL).
Hovestad believes the process for those with chronic conditions is a waste of resources in the province’s overburdened health-care system.
“I think it would be a wonderful idea if the government, if AHS, would continue her coverage until she has been reassessed in the four to six months, instead of her having to pay out of pocket,” she said.
Hovestad reached out to CityNews after we shared Philip Raworth’s story last week. Raworth lost his bladder to cancer and also had to pay for urostomy bags at his own expense while waiting for a reassessment. AHS has since cancelled his reassessment appointment, and his medical supplies will continue to be covered.
“I do think it’s a waste, because Katie is not going to spontaneously become continent,” Hovestad said. “That other gentleman, his bladder is not going to regrow. This is a lifelong disability that she has. So it seems like a waste of resources for it to be done every four years.”
4-6 month wait is ‘typical’ right now: Alberta Health
Alberta Health told CityNews last week it was “working as quickly as possible to make sure these assessments occur in a timely manner.”
The government department says reassessments are useful because they provide access to new and better products and to avoid any clinical oversight.
“The client may be transitioned over, or additional products may be added to their suite of benefits.”
In a new statement Wednesday, Alberta Health called the four- to six-month wait “typical” right now. It added if a client’s supplies run out while waiting for a reassessment, an extension through Alberta Aids to Daily Living (AADL) is available.
“The AADL is continuously reviewing its policies to ensure those who need to access supports can continue to do so without interruption,” Alberta Health wrote.
Hovestad believes AADL is not offered and has never been communicated to her daughter, though she says she will look into it.
In the meantime she says she will keep fighting for her daughter.
“I have been Katie’s advocate since she was a brand-new baby, like when she was going to school, when she was out of school, all her life,” she said.
