Premiums paid to recipients to facilitate their attendance (transportation and other expenses) at a rehabilitation centre and those paid to recipients following therapy programs at a reception centre or hospital centre are excluded, to a maximum of:
- the amount of the premium paid where the recipient is not sheltered, including a recipient taken in charge by a family-type resource (foster home) or an intermediate resource.
- $25 per month in the case of a recipient admitted to shelter, including one placed in a group home.
The institutions that may pay this premium are:
- LONG-TERM CARE HOSPITAL CENTRES that provide a daytime program of therapeutic, preventive and rehabilitative activities and may pay their recipients a premium for attending.
- RECEPTION CENTRES, namely:
- SHELTERS, which may also provide daytime programs of therapeutic, preventive and rehabilitative activities.
- REHABILITATION CENTRES within the meaning of the Organization and Management of Establishments Regulation that provide specialized adjustment or rehabilitation services. Five types of rehabilitation centres can be classified according to the type of patient. They are:
- rehabilitation centres for the socially and emotionally maladjusted;
- rehabilitation centres for the mentally handicapped;
- rehabilitation centres for the physically handicapped;
- rehabilitation centres for drug addicts;
- rehabilitation centres for maladjusted mothers.
An Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services states that this form of assistance is provided to cover needs (repairs, transportation, etc.) for which a person is not eligible under another Act.
As such, a recipient of employment insurance benefits who receives such a premium may nevertheless be eligible for special medical transportation benefits in order to continue with his treatment plan or to go to the rehabilitation centre, so long as the institution confirms that the premium it provides to the recipient is not used to cover transportation costs.
This exclusion does not apply to the wages paid by a CENTRE DE TRAVAIL ADAPTÉ [sheltered workshop or achievement centre] recognized by the Office des personnes handicapées. These organizations, which produce goods or services and employ mostly handicapped persons, pay the minimum wage to the persons they employ, and the wages paid are not subject to the exemptions provided for in this paragraph.