Putting the pieces together - what Ont auto insurers don't pay and how it is creating a crisis

Insurers are pocketing the health care costs of treating MVA victims – funds that should be repaid to taxpayers (not to mention OW and ODSP costs that the taxpayer is unknowingly picking up along with prescription costs) and this has created a health care $ deficit problem for Ontario taxpayers. A problem the Financial Services Commission has known about for years – the Auditor General told the FSCO it needed fixing in 2011 but nothing was done so the taxpayer has continually paid some of the medical costs of MVA victims. To ‘cure’ the problem it is now suggested by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to privatize some services. Which means more people would have to increase their private insurer coverage if they are lucky enough to have this extra coverage. Who benefits? Not the taxpayer and not victims. Insurers who will now sell consumers the coverage they can no longer get from OHIP. Simultaneously auto insurance coverage (as of June 1, 2016) is decreased by over $1 million for the most catastrophically injured among us, thereby saving insurers about $6-800 million a year in payouts. Rehabilitation/medical rehab access is also cut by 5 years for all but children who are injured. http://truthaboutinsurance.ca/benefits-recently-cut-further/ . So just as MVA victims are about to be increasingly shunted onto the OHIP system, the proposal is to increase the privatization of that system.

Source/more: http://www.fairassociation.ca/2016/03/putting-the-pieces-together-what-ont-auto-insurers-dont-pay-and-how-it-is-creating-a-crisis/

Canada’s expensive habit: Adding up opioid abuse’s rising financial toll on the health-care system

Public drug programs spent $93-million on medications used for addiction to prescription painkillers and illicit opioids in 2014, compared with $57.3-million in 2011, according to figures for every province except Quebec compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) for The Globe and Mail. In four provinces, this class of opioids ranked among the top 10 in spending on all prescription drugs – a group that traditionally includes medications for arthritis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Source/more:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/opioids/article31464607/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links

‘Situation is crisis all the time. There is no plan,’ says Ontario parent of adult son with autism

Ombudsman Paul Dubé is set to release that long-awaited report Wednesday at Queen’s Park. Last year, the ombudsman’s 2014-2015 annual report revealed the investigation had drawn more than 1,300 complaints, including “urgent, disturbing cases where adults with severe special needs were ending up in jail, homeless shelters and hospitals because no care or services were available for them.”

More/source:

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/08/24/situation-is-crisis-all-the-time-there-is-no-plan-says-ontario-parent-of-adult-son-with-autism.html

The terrible cost of waste in health care

......Deciding who will live, or have a chance at life, and who will die, is one of the crueler ways Ontario governments have long controlled the costs of health care.

Another is long waiting lists for treatment......

...Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government for wasting billions of public dollars on, for example, unreliable and expensive wind and solar power, for cancelled gas plants and, most outrageously, for spending scandals in the health ministry such as eHealth and Ornge.

Source/more: http://www.torontosun.com/2016/08/25/the-terrible-cost-of-waste-in-health-care

Patients with moderate to severe TBI twice as likely to die from an unintentional injury

Research examining adults with moderate to severe TBI who participated in rehabilitation showed that they were twice as likely to die from an unintentional injury that occurred following their TBI. This was in comparison to individuals in rehabilitation of similar age, sex, and race but without TBI. People who have had a moderate to severe TBI may experience changes in cognition and balance, which may put them at greater risk of subsequent unintentional injuries.

Source/more:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160829104903.htm

Ontario patients deserve better protection: Editorial

There’s a conspicuous and troubling gap in the Liberal government’s plan to protect Ontario patients from sexual abuse by doctors. Missing is the core recommendation of a task force on this issue calling for creation of a special Ontario Safety and Patient Protection Authority.

Source/more:

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/09/09/ontario-patients-deserve-better-protection-editorial.html

This is a Xmas Wish that We hope everyone will RETWEET

Being delayed the help you need..is a crime! 

Wish list 4 Santa. Suffer financially everyday waiting for insurance approvals. We are here 4 U.

Sources: https://t.co/j86f6glLeW

https://twitter.com/busted_bucket/status/808302759535669248

Report finds ‘significant’ gaps in Ontario healthcare

Like nearly two thirds of Ontarians, the 27-year-old doesn’t have public health insurance for prescription medication and so is paying out-of-pocket. As a mental health advocate, she says it is not uncommon for those with complex health issues to be spending hundreds of dollars a month on their prescriptions, or for them to go off meds they can’t afford.

Source/more: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/13/report-finds-significant-gaps-in-ontario-healthcare.html

So we ask - why is the Ontario government gifting auto insurers with our healthcare dollars?

For 11 years the Ontario government has known that the taxpayers are paying too much for the healthcare of MVA victims post accident. The Auditor General has told them so in more than one report. The Minister of Finance recently put out the HSPRN report that acknowledges that the actual cost to OHIP was $383 million in 2013/14. This is a shortfall of $241 million in just one year. The loss to the taxpayer, who is paying while insurers aren't, is well over $1 billion in just the last 5 years alone.

Source: http://www.fairassociation.ca/2016/10/ontario-government-gifting-auto-insurers/

Ontario Health-care System overburdened,underfunded,mismanaged

Ontario Doctors Like Me Won't Play Along With Patients First Act...

...This health-care system is so overburdened, underfunded and mismanaged that it no longer provides patients with reliable, timely or even universal access to care....

Source/more: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/nadia-alam/ontarios-doctors-walk-awa_b_13521602.html 

 

CEO of nurses' association denounces LHSC for sending letter about public meeting it's hosting Friday

“(This) is a blatant attempt to intimidate (the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario) into staying silent on matters of interest to our members and the public. We recognize it as a bullying tactic and we will not be influenced by it in any way, shape or form,” Doris Grinspun, chief executive of the nurses’ association, wrote Thursday to Murray Glendining, chief executive of London Health Sciences Centre, and hospital board chair Tom Gergely. The Free Press obtained the letter.

Source/more:

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/10/13/president-of-nurses-association-denounces-lhsc-for-sending-letter-about-public-meeting-its-hosting-friday

Dear Doctors, Here's Why It's Unhelpful When You Call My Pain 'Discomfort'

You know how doctors always use the word “discomfort” to describe our pain? Instead of recognizing that we are in agony, instead of calling our pain what it is… pain… they often downplay the language they use to describe the severity of what we are feeling.

Source/more:

https://themighty.com/2016/10/why-doctors-shouldnt-call-pain-discomfort/

Ombudsman asked to probe WSIB treatment of mentally ill

Mentally ill workers are being systematically denied benefits because of discriminatory and unconstitutional practices at the province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, according to a new complaint sent to Ontario’s government watchdog.

Source/more:

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/11/14/ombudsman-asked-to-probe-wsib-treatment-of-mentally-ill.html

Scrutiny of opioid prescriptions bad news for patients in pain, doctor warns

Dr. Ellen Thompson says a rising number of misconduct investigations by the College of Physician and Surgeons of Ontario into doctors who may be over-prescribing opioid medications such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl will discourage doctors from prescribing the painkillers even in cases where they are beneficial.

Source/more:

http://ottawacitizen.com/storyline/scrutiny-of-opioid-prescriptions-bad-news-for-patients-in-pain-doctor-warns

How safe are the vigorous neck manipulations done by chiropractors?

The chiropractor had just worked on Lynne Beliveau’s neck when she became dizzy, unable to see or move. Rushed to the hospital, Beliveau had a shunt inserted to relieve pressure caused by swelling in her brain. The Ashburn woman suffered a series of strokes and today, eight years later, the 41-year-old mother of three suffers from constant vertigo.

Source/more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/how-safe-are-the-vigorous-neck-manipulations-done-by-chiropractors/2014/01/06/26870726-5cf7-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

Petition to the Government of Canada

We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to implement a National Disability Assistance Program for Canadians with chronic disabilities to fund life-sustaining medical equipment and to provide access to the necessary services to allow them to optimize their functionality over the course of their lifetime.

Source/more:
https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-41

Persons with Disabilities 120% tax rate applied

Mr. Speaker, like young people, disabled Canadians want the opportunity to
work. A million of them already do, and private sector companies like Tim
Hortons, RBC, and KPMG want to continue hiring them, but a disabled worker
earning minimum wage can lose as much as $1.20 in clawbacks and taxes on
every new dollar he earns. 

No one can afford to work with a 120% tax rate.
Will the finance minister show leadership to remove this poverty trap and
make work pay?

 Source: http://openparliament.ca/debates/2016/10/26/pierre-poilievre-2/ 

WSIB gives corporations millions while doctors, injured workers outraged

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - October 31, 2016) - Despite growing public attention surrounding the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's (WSIB) treatment of workers who get injured on the job, the WSIB announced Friday that they will further reduce employers' premium rates that fund the system.
Source/more:

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/oniwg-wsib-gives-corporations-millions-while-doctors-injured-workers-outraged-2170921.htm

Patients sue doctor after suffering infections, serious illnesses under his care

Dr. Stephen James was found by a disciplinary committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to have treated a number of patients in unsterile conditions, some of whom later became seriously ill.


More:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/29/doctor-faces-class-action-after-cpso-suspension.html

Ont. Super. Ct. finds that the terms of a consent form for a s. 44 SABS assessment must be agreed to by the parties and cannot be imposed by the insurer

In Intact Insurance Company v. Beaudry, Ontario Superior Court Justice Beaudoin held that absent a prescribed form, or a standard form that may be devloped by the various stakeholders, the insurer and insured must agree on the consent form for assessments by healthcare practitioners under s. 44 of the SABS before they can be conducted.

More:

http://www.hughesamys.com/blawg/blawg-post/blog/2016/10/19/ont.-super.-ct.-finds-that-the-terms-of-a-consent-form-for-a-s.-44-sabs-assessment-must-be-agreed-to-by-the-parties-and-cannot-be-imposed-by-the-insurer