Recently, a court in Ontario upheld a ruling by Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner that the names of Ontario’s highest paid doctors, amounts they receive from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan and their medical specialties should be disclosed to the public because it is public information, not private as several doctors’ groups had argued. The Toronto Star has been championing this fight since 2013 because the only information Ontario’s health ministry would release to the paper’s FOI request at that time was that the top 100 billing doctors in the province pulled down $191 million from 2012 to 2013 and that “the highest biller alone claimed more than $6 million, while the second- and third-highest billers each claimed more than $4 million. Nineteen doctors received payments of more than $2 million each.”
Good doctors can do a lot of good work
Let’s be clear – just because a doctor bills a lot of money does not mean necessarily there is something sinister going on. Some doctors are amazing producers and can help many patients. They deserve their rewards and our thanks because they actually save money.
Taxpayers deserve accountability
That being said, in our taxpayer funded system, this does not mean they fall outside the scrutiny of the public for the monies they receive. We have a right to know if the money is well-spent or not. But apparently, the medical profession does not see it that way. They have already appealed this ruling.
Health care bureaucrats invisible
It is incredibly disturbing that a private organization like the Star needs to be the one to champion this issue. Where are the civil servants we pay to be stewards of our government health care funds? It is appalling that the Information and Privacy Commissioner apparently stands alone to make this information public.
Earlier this year, we released a white paper on healthcare fraud in Canada. The “lily-white, I’m all right, Jack” of Canadian provincial health care agencies on this subject is a dubious pose, considering the substantial fraud uncovered daily just across the border. Ah, but there, American government agencies are the ones shining the light of truth on private health institutions. Here, the government would only be shining the light on itself, something no Canadian government agency, federal or provincial, in its right mind would do.
Canadians have bought a Trump-style contradiction
It is our position that Canadians have been lulled into a false sense of security on how their health care money is being spent. They, unfortunately, have bought the comforting and delusional platitudes of “everything is okay, this is Canada” in a similar vein to those Americans who believe Donald Trump will be their saviour despite his obvious willingness to dismantle their own health care system and put tens of millions of people out of health insurance coverage. One thing said, another thing done.
Federal level law enforcement authority needed
That is why we have called for a federal authority, perhaps under the RCMP, to investigate and prosecute healthcare fraud in this country despite the fact that health care is a provincial issue. Is it perfect?
No, but it would be a hell of a lot better than what we have.
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