QUEEN’S PARK – Amid the Conservatives’ push for privatized healthcare, new health clinics are beginning to pop up that require Ontarians to pay with their credit card – just to get in the door.
Last week, we saw a health center in Ottawa begin charging a $400 membership fee for access to the clinic, which allows patients to see a physician, but won’t cover any additional costs associated with care.
“You should not have to pay for the right to have access to primary care,” said MPP John Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. “The bottom line is that the state of primary care in this province has made people desperate for access, and Ontarians should not have to take out their credit card to get the care they need.”
Ontario Liberals are calling on the provincial government to:
- Ensure primary care is always covered by OHIP, whether you are seeing a primary care physician or a nurse practitioner;
- End the practice of subscription fees in primary care; and
- Fully fund primary care.
“It’s unethical that market economics should prevail over who gets access to primary care, and that a $400 subscription fee could be the deciding factor in who, from a ten thousand person wait list, gets care,” said Dr. Adil Shamji, Ontario Liberal Health critic.