Out of Country Medical Expenses Will Be Reimbursed to Saskatoon Family | The Canadian News

A Saskatoon family with nearly $ 832,000 in medical expenses out of the country is breathing easy Monday.

Kristin Finn says that Health Minister Paul Merriman told her that the provincial government will reimburse the huge bill.

The reimbursement will cover most of the cost of the life-saving treatment for brain diseases that her son Conner, now five years old, received in 2020. The international treatment had not yet been approved by the Ministry of Health when it was received.

“In terms of the cost of the transplant itself, they agreed to cover the cost,” Finn said Monday afternoon, referring to a stem cell transplant that Conner received at a specialty clinic in Minnesota.

“In fact, I am still in a state of shock. I’ve been walking in a daze all day. We hoped they would look at the file and see that what we did was reasonable. “

In previous interviews with Global News, Finn explained how, after Conner was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy, she and her husband searched extensively for a Canadian expert on the disease to no avail.

However, they did discover a specialist who worked at the University of Minnesota.

After an MRI was completed in Saskatchewan, the family sent the results to the Minnesota clinic, where the specialist told them that Conner’s need for stem cell transplantation was urgent and the window for treatment was narrowing. .

Worried about waiting in Saskatchewan, either for treatment approval or for a referral to a Canadian hospital outside of the province (which they believe would in turn have referred the family to Minnesota), the Finns liquidated their retirement savings to ensure clipping. edge treatment.

His subsequent request for reimbursement to the Ministry of Health was denied, despite the Saskatchewan Health Services Review Committee suggesting that the Ministry reconsider the matter.

Since then, Finns have had to delay their retirement and move to Kansas to work and support themselves, Conner and their other children.

That’s why the Finns decided to take their story to the capital city of Saskatchewan early last week, where Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman agreed to review the case.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Merriman said the information reviewed “over the weekend” influenced his office’s decision.

“I wanted to take some time to make the right decision on this and I think I made the right decision on this,” Merriman said.

“There was other information that the Finnish family had brought me last week that I needed to verify and digest, and I did it over the weekend, reviewed it and made a decision.”

Referring to his office’s initial decision, Merriman said that with the information he had his decision was “right where he wanted it”, but that new information submitted by the Finnish family influenced the review.

“I saw him as the Minister of Health, but I also saw him as a father, going through a very difficult time with a very young child. So that also went into my decision to make sure I was looking at it from all perspectives the way I should, ”Merriman said.

Finn was first brought into the legislature last Monday as a guest of the Saskatchewan NDP.

“This is the story of a family who had to take a big step for their son to be operated on very quickly as a really dangerous and difficult option for them,” said leader Ryan Meili at the roundabout, adding that the treatment was necessary for that the family could “see their child grow up.”

“It shouldn’t take that level of push. It shouldn’t be necessary for a family to have to come here day after day to face the cameras and the prime minister, but they did. “