Survey on Privatization
of Public Health Care
and its Impact on
Patients
This survey is being conducted by the Ontario
Health Coalition, a public interest group dedicated to protecting and improving
public health care.
The survey takes most people less than 5
minutes to complete and almost everyone finishes within 10 minutes.
You can do the
survey online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OHC-user-fees-survey
Needed medical services provided by hospitals and
by doctors are supposed to be covered by OHIP, paid through our taxes and
provided free when we are sick or in need. However, we are receiving complaints
from patients who are being charged extra fees for this care.
The Canada Health Act says that patients cannot be
charged these extra fees for medically necessary hospital and doctor services.
Public health care is supposed to cover all Canadians equally, but sometimes
private clinics or public hospitals charge extra to patients unlawfully.
Some examples of unlawful extra fees include:
- I was charged $1,200 for cataract surgery
- My mother was charged $50 for a consultation with a doctor
- The private clinic told my grandfather that he had to pay a fee for the clinic to keep his medical records
- My wife was charged a “facility fee” at the endoscopy clinic.
Sometimes private clinics charge fees for medically
unnecessary tests or procedures. When you go in for cataract surgery which is a
medically necessary procedure, for example, they might charge you for extra eye
measurements that are medically unnecessary. Here are some examples:
- I was charged $100 or more for extra eye measurement tests when I went in for cataract surgery
- My father was charged a $50 fee for orange juice and a DVD at a private colonoscopy or endoscopy clinic
- My grandmother was told she should pay $1,500 for special lenses when she went in for cataract surgery.
We are concerned that the increase in extra charges
threatens equal access to health care for Canadians.
We are hoping to find out what extra fees patients
are being charged and whether or not patients are given a clear choice about
paying fees for unnecessary services.
We will use the information to make a public report
and submissions to the Minister of Health to stop extra user charges for
patients and protect equal access to public health care for all Canadians. We
will not include any patients’ names or personal information in the
report.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this
survey.
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~ Protecting Public Medicare for All ~
