{"id":22394,"date":"2023-01-18T16:17:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T21:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=22394"},"modified":"2023-02-07T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T18:08:12","slug":"a-closer-look-block-fees-and-boutique-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/a-closer-look-block-fees-and-boutique-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"<FONT COLOR=\"#E00000\"><\/FONT> A Closer Look: Block Fees and Boutique Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(January 18, 2023)<\/p>\n<h4>What is a Block Fee?<\/h4>\n<p>Doctors are allowed to charge patients for services that are not covered by OHIP either<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u00a0Item by item as these services are provided or<\/li>\n<li>By a \u201cBlock Fee\u201d to cover all uninsured (non-OHIP covered) services for a period of 3 -12 months<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Usually Block Fees are charged once per year and reportedly range from $100 &#8211; $250.These uninsured services include\u00a0things like telephone advice &amp; prescriptions, completion of forms and documents for medical assessments and some\u00a0interviews with professionals re. patients.<\/p>\n<h4>Why Oppose Block Fees &amp; Boutique Medicine?<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0They violate the spirit of the principles of the Canada\u00a0Health Act which provides for access to medically\u00a0necessary hospital and physician services based on need\u00a0not wealth.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0They potentially set up a two-tier system in which those\u00a0who pay a block fee or a fee for \u201cenhanced\u201d but medically\u00a0unnecessary care get better, faster care while those who\u00a0cannot pay face discrimination.<\/li>\n<li>They are difficult to control and regulate &#8212; people are\u00a0hesitant to complain about our doctors, especially when\u00a0there are no options for getting another doctor due to the\u00a0shortage. Already, the fees are going up and people are\u00a0reporting that they do not feel they have a choice in\u00a0paying them.<\/li>\n<li>They are unnecessary &#8212; physicians can already charge\u00a0item by item for these things.<\/li>\n<li>They inevitably open the door to some degree of\u00a0Boutique Medicine, whether in the form of the extreme\u00a0example reported in the Globe and Mail, or in a more\u00a0subtle form of two-tiering and discrimination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>How Are They Misused?<\/h4>\n<p>The Medical Reform Group reports that the\u00a0College of Physicians an Surgeons has received<\/p>\n<p>complaints including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A psychiatrist charging patients to review\u00a0their daily logs.<\/li>\n<li>Patients from one town being told their\u00a0physicians would drop them from their\u00a0practices if they did not pay the Block Fee.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Patients from one town being told that\u00a0unless they paid a Block Fee their\u00a0telephone messages would go\u00a0unanswered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>\u201cBoutique Medicine\u201d<\/h4>\n<p>Recently a Globe and Mail story described two\u00a0family doctors who are charging their patients an\u00a0annual fee of $2,500 for a detailed medical\u00a0work-up, customized health plans and 24\/7\u00a0access. In this way, they plan to have a small\u00a0caseload and make their money through the\u00a0enhanced service package. It is suspected that\u00a0these physicians have structured the charges to\u00a0avoid breaking the Block Fee policy of the College.<\/p>\n<h4>What Is the Government Doing About This?<\/h4>\n<p>In Bill 8 \u2013 the so-called \u201cCommitment to the Future of Medicare\u00a0Act\u201d, which has been introduced and is in consultations, the government has brought Block Fees into legislation and\u00a0therefore out of self-regulation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. This is an improvement. However, it leaves\u00a0their regulation unspecified.<\/p>\n<h4>What Are We Asking For?<\/h4>\n<p>We are recommending that the government ban the use of Block Fees.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Block-Fees.pdf\">Click here for printable version <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(January 18, 2023) What is a Block Fee? Doctors are allowed to charge patients for services that are not covered by OHIP either \u00a0Item by item as these services are provided or By a \u201cBlock Fee\u201d to cover all uninsured (non-OHIP covered) services for a period of 3 -12 months Usually Block Fees are charged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Closer Look: Block Fees and Boutique Medicine - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(January 18, 2023) What is a Block Fee? 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