N.L. policies 'pushing me back down,' says woman who lost drug coverage after returning to school

A St. John's woman says the provincial government is forcing her to choose between her health and pursuing a post-secondary education that she hopes will get her off income support.

Krista Stephens, 43, began classes in Academy Canada's office administration and technology program in January. Her goal is to find work that pays well.

Stephens has lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than three decades. She's legally blind in her right eye and requires monthly intravitreal injections to prevent vision loss in her left eye — treatment that costs more than $20,000 annually.

That cost was covered by the province's drug plan before Stephens enrolled at Academy Canada, but after she received a student loan for $13,000 and a medical disability grant of $4,000, she was told by the Child Services and Social Development that she will no longer receive income support and her medications are no longer covered by the provincial drug plan.

"The day I found out I no longer had coverage I just started to cry, because what are my options right now?" said Stephens, fighting back tears.

"Do I continue with school and have no coverage for the medications that are allowing me to see, or my insulin and other medications that are allowing me to live and see another day? Or do I quit school, reapply for income support, and end up on income support for the rest of my life?"

In 2019, Stephens fought to get provincial coverage for her eye treatments and was successful.

But now she feels trapped.

"It's not where I want to be. I'm trying to pull myself out of the situation that I have and there's another policy in place, yet again, pushing me back down, keeping me in the situation that I'm in," she said.

The interim leader of Newfoundland and Labrador 's NDP is fighting to have Stephens drug coverage restored while she attends school.

"I find it absolutely frustrating," said St. John's Centre MHA Jim Dinn.

"Government programs should be designed help people, yet you've got a government policy that basically kicks people down."

Dinn says when he asked government officials about Stephens's case he was told that people who receive funding to attend post-secondary studies through student aid programs are not eligible to receive income support benefits at the same time.