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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Doctors propose plan to reveal top OHIP billers

Ontario patients may soon learn how much some of the province’s highest billing doctors receive in taxpayer-funded OHIP payments.

If the Ontario Medical Association follows through on a proposal from some of its members, it would assist in publicly releasing the names of some top-billers, a move that would mark a dramatic reversal in its position that such disclosure would be a violation of personal privacy.

Doctors have been discussing the plan for more than a week on a social media site, the Star has learned.

Read more at Toronto Star

New Brunswick joins growing list of provinces who reveal how much they pay doctors

New Brunswick has made public how much it pays to each of its doctors.

The province released the names of physicians along with the amounts each received in payments for providing medically insured services last year.

In doing so, it has joined a growing list of jurisdictions that is turning to public disclosure of such data.

read more at thestar.com

 

Ontario doctors go to court to keep billing information secret

Two groups of doctors and the Ontario Medical Association are headed to court Monday to argue that OHIP payments to top-billing physicians are “personal information” and should not be public.

The information and privacy commissioner last year ordered the public disclosure of the top billers’ identities, along with amounts each receives in payments from the taxpayer-funded insurance plan. The information is business-related, not personal, and should be public because of the importance of transparency of government expenditures, the ruling said.

read more at thestar.com

It’s not just Americans who need to worry about health-care costs: Pape

Last week, I spent four days in hospital for a surgical procedure (don’t worry, nothing life-threatening). When I was discharged, I was presented with a bill for $1,055. That covered semi-private accommodation (the hospital had no facilities that qualified as “wards”) and some recommended post-op massage therapy. None of the expenses were covered by OHIP.

I have a family member who suffers from a rare and debilitating disease. His specialists have prescribed a very rare drug, which costs about $3,000 a month. It is not covered by OHIP.

A friend of mine has a very serious eye condition. He requires monthly shots just to maintain the limited vision he has left, at a cost of $1,500. Since he is under age 65, he has to pay for these out of his own pocket. OHIP doesn’t cover it.

read more at thestar.com