Achi news desk-
More than 100 patients have come forward to voice their concerns about charging for care at private clinics in a newly released report by the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC). The majority of these patients are older people living on a fixed income, with the fees placing significant financial burdens on them.
The OHC, which advocates for publicly funded health care, held press conferences across the province on Tuesday to release the report, titled Unlawful, Unlawful and Unethical: Case Studies of Patients Who Charging for Medical Care in Ontario’s Private Clinics, which noted for-profit clinics expanded by the Ford government have been charging patients thousands in illegal fees.
The report included case studies of more than 100 patients, who said they were either charged extra fees, refused treatment, told if they didn’t pay they would face “extreme” waiting times, or have even been tricked into adding -on fees.
The report said some patients faced bills in excess of $8,000 for eye surgery and tests, leading to significant financial stress. According to OHC, one patient had to go back to work at the age of 71 to pay his bill, while others resorted to accumulating debt, depleting their savings, borrowing money or sacrificing other necessities.
One patient, Shalom Schachter of Toronto, told Global News he was sold a story about needing additional eye tests and lenses by an ophthalmologist surgeon and ended up paying close to $1,200 at a for-profit clinic.
“I could use the OHIP equipment that was paid for, but that wasn’t going to be the best for me. He had diagnostic equipment that was going to identify my condition in a more accurate way,” Schachter said.
Maureen Monro from London said she was told she would have to wait two years unless she paid thousands of dollars for cataract surgery.
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“I was told that the cost to receive the surgery would be almost $7,000. As I live alone, I didn’t want to lose my quality of life. So, I paid the $7,000. As a senior on a fixed income, I’m still trying to keep up with the bills of this surgery.”
In the report, the OHC highlighted inconsistencies in Premier Doug Ford’s assurances regarding the privatization of surgeries and diagnostics. Despite its “headline” promise that Ontarians would only need to use their OHIP cards, not their credit cards, for medical payments, and the promise of robust safeguards against extra bills and user fees, the reality of the a situation where user fees are charged to patients in private clinics contradicts these commitments.
“It is illegal to charge a patient for any service that is covered by OHIP or any part of a service that is covered by OHIP. In fact, it is illegal,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of OHC.
The OHC held a statewide press conference on Tuesday to release the report.
Global News
The report also revealed that the main fees patients faced were associated with eye surgeries at for-profit clinics, particularly for cataract procedures. Many patients said they were not told the service was covered by OHIP, and a third of patients said they were charged between $500 and $5,000 per eye for the surgery.
Kate Armstrong, a small business owner in Toronto, was one of these people.
Armstrong was told by a surgeon at a private clinic that the wait time at a public hospital would be “impossibly long” and that the hospital could not offer the desired “upgrade” lens. As a result, he chose to have additional tests and eye surgery at a private clinic.
“$8,000 later, I don’t believe it was an accident that they swiped my Visa card instead of my OHIP card. It was never discussed at any level that OHIP covered any of it,” he told Global News.
In the report, the OHC said the most common violations of public medicare laws by private clinics include telling patients they must pay for medically necessary surgeries, requiring patients to pay for supplements that are not needed or covered by OHIP and charged for preferential access. to take care of those who paid out of pocket.
“They are older people… They would have to go back to work at 70 and 80 years old to cover these costs. It’s disgusting. It violates every moral we have,” Mehra said.
In response, a spokesperson for the Minister of Health told Global News that over the past year they have added tens of thousands of cataract surgeries covered by OHIP and have achieved some of the shortest waiting times of any state in the country.
“Through Bill 60, our government has further strengthened the oversight of community surgical and diagnostic centres, by bringing these centers under the supervision of a patient ombudsman, ensuring that access to services cannot be subject to their choice to pay or not paying on extra, without insurance. service and legislate that Ontarians will always access insurance services at community surgical and diagnostic centers with their OHIP card and never their credit card,” the spokesperson said.
— with files from Caryn Lieberman
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
