As private-pay crackdown looms, 'executive health' clinics charge freely

EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Increasingly, advocates are raising the question: why are some private-pay clinics OK, and others aren't? Others, like Medcan, offer care to those who will pay cash. It works like this: patients pay a "block fee" for services that aren't covered under OHIP, like physio and massage therapy. Those patients just happen to also get a family doctor.

"Just trying to find a doctor is so hard. And then being stuck, if you've got to go to a walk-in — or the wait times in the emergency rooms are up to 24 hours right now, like, it's just not worth it. I'll just pay the money," she said.A total of four exec health clinics called by The Trillium said they were taking new primary care patients — but only those who pay.

"It's a violation of the Canada Health Act. You cannot charge a patient for access to medically necessary hospital or physician care. And then, under Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act, it's an offence — so it's illegal — to charge a patient for access to an OHIP-insured service," she said. In Monday's question period, Shamji excoriated the Ford government for what he sees as a failure to protect universal medicare.

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