Does Ontario already have a two-tier health care system?
If you, like millions of people in Canada—and two million in Ontario alone—do not have a family doctor, the prospect of paying hundreds of dollars for the services they provide might be something you'd do, if you could afford it. That's the demand that has "nurse practitioner clinics" springing up across the province, fuelling accusations that Ontario is hurtling towards a Pay For Access system. The province's minister of health says the government is investigating the claims of patients being charged fees for these clinics—but the clinics themselves don't appear to be breaking any rules. They're just taking advantage of loopholes to find ways to charge the public for care they aren't getting under the current system. So what are the loopholes? How did we end up here? And is this really the road Ontario's health care system is headed down? GUEST: Richard Southern, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews
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Show Notes
If you, like millions of people in Canada—and two million in Ontario alone—do not have a family doctor, the prospect of paying hundreds of dollars for the services they provide might be something you'd do, if you could afford it. That's the demand that has "nurse practitioner clinics" springing up across the province, fuelling accusations that Ontario is hurtling towards a Pay For Access system.
The province's minister of health says the government is investigating the claims of patients being charged fees for these clinics—but the clinics themselves don't appear to be breaking any rules. They're just taking advantage of loopholes to find ways to charge the public for care they aren't getting under the current system. So what are the loopholes? How did we end up here? And is this really the road Ontario's health care system is headed down?
GUEST: Richard Southern, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews
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