|
Newsletter
|
Donate
Health Coalition files complaints over extra-billing fees
Posted: June 20, 2025
(June 19, 2025) By: Sudbury.com Staff, Sudbury.com
Ontario residents being advised there is no need for extra billing for eye surgery and the idea of paying to jump the wait time queue is illegal
The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) is speaking out on behalf of 50 patients across the province who have filed formal complaints over fees charged at private medical clinics.
The OHC said the complaints have been forwarded to the Ministry of Health.
Copies of the complaints have been forwarded to the federal Ministry of Health along with Health Canada, said the group.
The concern is that Ontario’s Conservative government has redirected health funding away from public hospitals and has pledged OHIP funding to help pay for the operation of private health care clinics.
When the Ford government redirected resources away from public hospitals to expand private for-profit clinics the premier said, the OHC said the premier promised Ontario residents wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for medical expenses.
The coalition said it wants Ontario to stop the extra-billing practice and to stop the user fees in private clinics immediately.
The idea of imposing extra fees on patients is exploitative and predatory, the OHC added, saying patients are being promised shorter wait times if they go to private clinics, but are then expected to pay extra fees associated with their procedures.
“Under the Canada Health Act, patients are supposed to be protected against user charges and extra-billing for medically needed surgeries, diagnostic tests and physician services,” said the OHC news release. “Selling queue jumping is not allowed. Patients are to have access to health care based on their medical need, not how wealthy they are.”
The health coalition wants patients to know that everything needed for cataract surgery is covered under OHIP, including eye measurement tests, lenses that are unique to their eye, and eye drops, appointments with physicians and follow up.
The coalition said cataract surgery generally has very good outcomes. No one can charge a patient for cataract surgery, or the medically needed eye exams and eye drops associated with the surgery, said the news release.
Often patients end up paying for things that are not part of cataract surgery. Often patients are lied to about wait times in order to convince them to pay, said the release.. Ontario has a wait times website that tracks the actual wait times for every part of the province.
Most patients with urgent medical need are getting their cataract surgery within three-and-a-half months and those without urgent medical need are getting their surgery within seven months, said the OHC release.
The OHC outlined the types of complaints that they have received in two separate open letters to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones to Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel. They called on the Ford government to reimburse the patients and take action to stop the private clinics. They asked the federal government to take all action possible to enforce the Canada Health Act in Ontario where the Ford government is violating it.
