THUNDER BAY — People across Ontario are walking out of private health care clinics with bills they didn’t see coming, sometimes totalling in the thousands, says the Ontario Health Coalition.
Jules Tupker, president of Thunder Bay Health Coalition, said that during a routine eye examination last spring a local optometrist suggested he book an appointment for cataract removal — and said he was shocked by the private clinic and its hidden fees.
“When I went to visit him, they did a number of tests with his assistant including eye measurements and a couple of other things that they had for me,” he said. “When I went to leave the office, the secretary at the front said 'you have to pay me $225 for the services,'” said Tupker.
Unaware of the fees, he said he had booked his wife’s appointment for the same time and was worried about paying the bill up front.
“I was fearful,” he said. “I thought if I question it, then they're going to say I can go somewhere else and I have to wait again for a number of months or whatever to get the surgery.”
“I already knew about the Health Coalition's campaign to make sure that you don't have to pay for medical necessary services, but I didn't want to jeopardize my opportunity to get the surgery, so I paid the $225,” Tupker said.
After leaving the appointment, Tupker said he filed for restitution and reached out to The Ontario Health Coalition, joining 200 others who have made complaints about private clinics.
“All Canadians have the right to medically needed surgeries, diagnostic tests, and physician services without requirement to pay when they're sick,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director for OHC.
Many of the 200 complaints include manipulative pricing, where clients have reported being told they need surplus services or that queue jumping to beat wait times is needed, said Mehra.
“Patients frequently tell us that they are being told they have to pay for medically unneeded things like special lenses, measurements, and other add-ons in order to get cataract surgery,” said Alana King, Research and campaign coordinator for OHC.
“And if they don't pay for these things that are unnecessary, they can't get the surgery they need,” she said.
"These clinics claim that, you can get it faster if you do it with us,” King said.
In reality, King said, looking at the Ontario Health website, the service wait times available in public hospitals are not even close to what private clinics suggest.
“All these types of complaints completely go against the values of compassion and equity on which public medicare is based on and why public medicare was created in the first place,” said Mehra.
The Ontario Health Coalition is encouraging anyone with a complain about private clinics to reach out.