INSIGHTS: Gaps in federal oversight leave First Nations patients behind – – Investigative Journalism Bureau

January 09, 2026

The Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program is meant to provide eligible First Nations and Inuit people with access to healthcare services not covered by other publicly funded systems. In principle, it is meant to function seamlessly. In practice, it’s disjointed.

Bureaucratic hurdles mean both patients and their providers struggle to navigate a system that too often works against those it is meant to serve, creating dangerous gaps in access to care, particularly for people already made vulnerable by addiction, trauma, and chronic illness.

Read More: https://ijb.utoronto.ca/news/insights-gaps-in-federal-oversight-leave-first-nations-patients-behind/