Justin Trudeau vows to defend Canada Health Act, not revisit it

Posted on March 1, 2023 in Health Policy Context

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TheTrillium.ca – News/Health
February 27, 2023.   Jessica Smith Cross

The PM’s comments amid growing concern about health-care companies finding creative ways around the constraints of the law

Justin Trudeau said Monday he won’t hesitate to claw back money from provinces that violate the Canada Health Act — but the prime minister suggested he has no interest in strengthening the legislation that established medicare in Canada.

It comes as some provinces, including Ontario, have been pushing for a bigger role for private providers in their health-care systems. In Ontario, there are also growing concerns about companies that have found ways around the law to bill patients for medically necessary care including by using health-care workers located outside of the province where the patient lives, either for virtual care or surgeries performed out of province.

These practices are believed to be legal, according to the Canada Health Act, if not in keeping with its principle.

“Canada has an extraordinarily strong Canada Health Act that ensures that Canadians have access to the public, universal health care system,” said Trudeau, standing alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a media event on Monday.

“One of the federal government’s roles around health care is to ensure that the Canada Health Act is always respected. Provinces deliver health care so the federal government contributes some of the funding and ensures that the Canada Health Act is respected. And I can tell you over the past number of years, this government has clawed back or withheld money or penalized for not having lived up to the Canada Health back and we will not hesitate to do so going forward.”

Asked the same question, Ford said his government will continue to work on creative ways to deliver health care more efficiently in the province and offered a reassurance he’s given the public many times: “I’ve always said you’ll be paying with your OHIP card, not your credit card.”

However, public health-care activists held a press conference at Queen’s Park earlier in the day outlining scenarios where Ontarians have had to pay for health care at the type of privately-owned clinic that is being expanded by the Ford government. They included situations where patients were “upsold” and made to pay for things not covered by OHIP, such as upgraded lenses for cataract surgery, without being told a publicly paid option was available.

In question period Monday, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of health addressed those concerns, saying legislation the Ford government has introduced will require extra charges such as those be made public, and ensuring each centre has a process for receiving and responding to patient complaints

https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/justin-trudeau-vows-to-defend-canada-health-act-not-revisit-it-6619230

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