Healthcare advocates in Ontario are raising concerns after multiple patients reported being unfairly charged for medically necessary services. The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) has collected testimonies from over 100 patients who encountered out-of-pocket charges at various for-profit clinics throughout Brampton and other parts of Ontario.
Patients have shared disturbing accounts of being denied crucial information about procedures, facing pressure to pay for unnecessary service additions, and being threatened with excessively long wait times if they did not comply. According to the OHC, these practices not only violate Ontario’s Public Medicare protection laws but also place a considerable financial burden on individuals seeking medical care.
This issue has gained traction following the Ontario government’s announcement in January that private for-profit and not-for-profit clinics would be permitted to perform surgeries covered under the provincial insurance plan. These surgeries include cataracts, MRIs, CT scans, and knee and hip replacements.
However, healthcare watchdogs warn that reallocating resources from public hospitals to private clinics may compromise patient care and contribute to the erosion of healthcare services within local communities.
The OHC plans to release a detailed report that will highlight 18 case studies illustrating these malpractices at for-profit surgical and diagnostic clinics. The coalition is set to unveil this report at rallies on Wednesday, with one scheduled at Brampton Civic Hospital at 1 p.m. Additional press conferences are planned in Toronto, London, and Waterloo.
A recent study by the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) of Ontario underscored these concerns, revealing that Ontario spends less on healthcare per capita than any other Canadian province, with an expenditure of $4,889 per person. This report raises further questions about the impact of healthcare funding and policy decisions on patient care across the province.