P A R T C D E C I S I O N U N D E R A P P E A L T h e d e c i s i o n u n d e r a p p e a l i s t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o D e v e l o p m e n t a n d P o v e rt y R e d u c t i o n ( t h e m i n i s t r y ) , w h i r e c e i v e a h e a l t h s u p p l e m e n t f o r t r a n s p o r t a t i o n t o a t t e n p o d i a t r i s t i s n o t a " s p e c i a l i s t " a s d e f i n e d i n s e c t i o n 1 o f w i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s R e g u l a t i o n E A P W D R , a n d ( 2 ) h i s r e q u e s 2 { 1 ) ( f ) ( i ) , ( i i ) , ( i i i ) a n d ( i v ) o f S c h e d u l e C o f t h e E A P W D R t P A R T D R E L E V A N T L E G I S L A T I O N T h e r e l e v a n t l e g i s l a t i o n i s s e c t i o n s 6 2 , a n d s e c t i o n s 1 a n EAA T 0 0 3 ( 1 7 1 0 8/ 1 7 ) n d a t e d M a y 2 3 , 2 0 1 8 , m a d e b y t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l c h d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e t o d a n a p p o i n t m e n t w i t h h i s p o d i a t r i s t b e c a u s e : ( i ) h i s S c h e d u l e C t o t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e f o r P e r s o n s t d o e s n o t m e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s s e t o u t i n s e c t i o n h a t t h e s p e c i a l i s t b e t h e n e a r e s t a v a i l a b l e s p e c i a l i s t . d 2 o f S c h e d u l e C o f t h e E A P W D R . 2
PART E -SUMMARY OF FACTS The appellant is in receipt of assistance as a person with disabilities. On April 11, 2018, he requested medical transportation assistance to attend an appointment with his podiatrist on April 12. The ministry denied his request. A ministry representative did not attend the hearing. The panel being satisfied that the ministry received sufficient notice of the hearing proceeded with the hearing without the ministry representative in accordance with section 86(b) of the Employment and Assistance Regulation. The appellant submitted a letter from his podiatrist at appeal which states: "For purposes of transportation via the ministry, [the appellant] will need to see me periodically for foot care problems. He has transportation funding limitations and I am a member of the BC College of Pediatric Surgeons." The panel reviewed this letter for admissibility and determined it admissible as it does not introduce any new information but is in support of information and records that were before the ministry at the time of the reconsideration decision. ATIACH EXTRA PAGES IF NECESSARY EAAT003 (17!08/17} 3
I PART F -REASONS FOR PANEL DECISION The issue under appeal is the reasonableness of the ministry's reconsideration decision dated May 23, 2018, which determined that the appellant was not eligible to receive a health supplement for transportation to attend an appointment with his podiatrist because his podiatrist is not a "specialist" and is not the "nearest available specialist". The relevant legislation is sections 62, and sections 1 and 2 of Schedule C of the EAPWDR: General health supplements 62 The minister may provide any health supplement set out in section 2 [general health supplements] or 3 [medical equipment and devices] of Schedule C to or for (a)a family unit in receipt of disability assistance, (b)a family unit in receipt of hardship assistance, if the health supplement is provided to or for a person in the family unit who is under 19 years of age, or (c)a family unit, if the health supplement is provided to or for a person in the family unit who is a continued person. Definitions 1 In this Schedule: "specialist" means a medical practitioner recognized as a specialist in a field of medicine or surgery in accordance with the bylaws made by the board for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia under section 19 (11 (k.3) and (k.4) of the Health Professions Act. General health supplements 2 (1) The following are the health supplements that may be paid for by the minister if provided to a family unit that is eligible under section 62[general health supplements] of this regulation: (f) the least expensive appropriate mode of transportation to or from (i) an office, in the local area, of a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, (ii) the office of the nearest available specialist in a field of medicine or surgery if the person has been referred to a specialist in that field by a local medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, (iii) the nearest suitable general hospital or rehabilitation hospital, as those facilities are defined in section 1.1 of the Hospital Insurance Act Regulations, or (iv) the nearest suitable hospital as defined in paragraph (e) of the definition of "hospital" in section 1 of the Hospital Insurance Act, provided that (v) the transportation is to enable the person to receive a benefit under the Medicare Protection Act or a general hospital service under the Hospital Insurance Act, and (vi) there are no resources available to the person's family unit to cover the cost. At the hearing the appellant stated that he was surprised at the denial because the ministry has provided transportation funding for him to visit this podiatrist previously. He stated that his podiatrist is a "specialist" as required by the legislation and provided a letter from his podiatrist stating that he is a member of the B.C. College of Podiatric Surgeons. He was referred to this podiatrist by his physician after undergoing surgery which had complications and required a continuity of care, such that this podiatrist was the closest appropriate podiatrist. In its reconsideration decision, the ministry states that it is satisfied that the appellant's request meets the EAAT003 {17/08/17) 4
r e q u i r e m e n t s o f b e i n g t h e l e a s t e x p e n s i v e m o d e o f t r a n f o r t h e t r a n s p o rt a t i o n . A " s p e c i a l i s t " , a s d e f i n e d i n t h e E A P W D R , m u s t b e a " m e s e c t i o n 2 9 o f t h e I n t e r p r e t a t i o n A c t , m e a n s a " r e g i s t r a n t C o l u m b i a " . T h e a p p e l l a n t ' s p o d i a t r i s t i s a r e g i s t r a n t o f t h t h e C o l l e g e o f P h y s i c i a n s a n d S u r g e o n s o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b t e r m i s d e f i n e d i n t h e I n t e r p r e t a t i o n A c t , a n d s o i s n o t a T h e m i n i s t r y s t a t e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s r e q u e s t d o e s n o ( i v ) . T h e p a n e l c o n s i d e r s t h a t o n l y o n e o f t h e s e s u b s e c t i o T h e r e i s n o q u e s t i o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s a p p r o p r i a t e a p p e l l a n t ' s p o d i a t r i s t i s n o t t h e c l o s e s t a v a i l a b l e p o d i a t r o f p o d i a t r i s t s l i s t e d i n t w o c o m m u n i t i e s c l o s e r t o t h e a p c o n s i d e r t h e s e p o d i a t r i s t s a s h e w a s r e f e r r e d t o h i s p o d i l e g i s l a t i o n i s c l e a r t h a t i n o r d e r t o q u a l i fy f o r t h e m e d i c a t o t h e " n e a r e s t a v a i l a b l e s p e c i a l i s t " . T h a t w a s n o t t h e c a F i n a l l y , t h e m i n i s t r y s t a t e s t h a t , c o n t r a ry t o t h e a p p e l l a n t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f u n d i n g t o t h e a p p e l l a n t fo r t r a v e l t o h i s n o t t h e m i n i s t ry h a s d o n e s o i n t h e p a s t i s n o t r e l e v a n t t A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t r a n s p o r t a t i o n t o h i s p o d i a t r i s t ' s o f f i c e w a s a r e a s o n a b l e M i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n . EAA T 0 0 3 ( 1 7 1 0 8/ 1 7 ) s p o r t a t i o n a n d t h a t h e d o e s n o t h a v e a n y r e s o u r c e s t o p a y d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e r " A " m e d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e r " , a s d e f i n e d i n o f t h e C o l l e g e o f P h y s i c i a n s a n d S u r g e o n s o f B r i t i s h e C o l l e g e o f P e d i a t r i c S u r g e o n s o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , n o t i a . H e i s t h e r e f o r e n o t a " m e d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e r " , a s t h a t " s p e c i a l i s t ' ' , a s t h a t t e r m i s d e f i n e d i n t h e E A P W D R . t m e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f s e c t i o n 2 ( 1 ) ( f ) ( i ) , ( i i ) , ( i i i ) o r n s i s r e l e v a n t t o t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c i r c u m s t a n c e s : 2 ( 1 ) ( f ) ( i i ) . l y r e f e r r e d t o h i s p o d i a t r i s t . T h e m i n i s t r y s t a t e s t h a t t h e i s t t o t h e a p p e l l a n t , p o i n t i n g o u t t h a t t h e r e a r e a n u m b e r p e l l a n t ' s r e s i d e n c e . T h e a p p e l l a n t s t a t e s t h a t h e d i d n o t a t r i s t b y h i s p h y s i c i a n f o r c o n t i n u i t y o f c a r e r e a s o n s . T h e l t r a n s p o r t a t i o n b e n e f i t , t h e a p p l i c a n t m u s t b e t r a v e l l i n g s e i n t h i s i n s t a n c e . t ' s a s s e r t i o n , i t h a s n o r e c o r d o f p r o v i d i n g m e d i c a l p o d i a t r i s t ' s o f f i c e s . T h e p a n e l c o n s i d e r s t h a t w h e t h e r o r o t h e m a t t e r b e f o r e t h e p a n e l a t t h i s t i m e . t o d e n y t h e a p p e l l a n t a h e a l t h s u p p l e m e n t f o r a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e r e l e v a n t l e g i s l a t i o n a n d c o n f i r m s t h e 5
I P A R T G O R D E R T H E P A N E L D E C I S I O N I S : ( C h e c k o n e ) � U N A N I M O U S 0 B Y M A J O R I T Y T H E P A N E L � C O N F I R M S T H E M I N I S T R Y D E C I S I O N 0 R E S C I N D S T H E M I N I S T R Y D E C I S I O N I f t h e m i n i s t ry d e c i s i o n i s r e s c i n d e d , i s t h e p a n e l d e c i s i o n r e f e r r e d b a c k t o t h e M i n i s t e r f o r a d e c i s i o n a s t o a m o u n t ? O Y e s O N o L E G I S L A T I V E A U T H O R I T Y F O R T H E D E C I S I O N : E m p l oym e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 1 ) ( a ) D o r S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 1 ) ( b ) � a n d S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 2 ) ( a ) � o r S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 2 ) ( b ) D P A R T H S I G N A T U R E S P R I N T N A M E M a r c u s H a d l e y S I G N A T U R E O F C H A I R D A T E ( Y E A RJ M O N T H / D A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 7 / 0 3 P R I N T N A M E J e n n i f e r A r m s t r o n g S I G N A T U R E O F M E M B E R D A T E ( Y E A R / M O N T H/ D A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 7 / 0 3 \ P R I N T N A M E S a n j a y G u l a t i S [ G N A T U R E O F M E M B E R D A T E ( Y E A R / M O N T H / D A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 7 / 0 3 E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 7 1 0 8 / 1 7 )
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.