Pay-to-play healthcare on the rise under Ford government

October 5, 2023

QUEEN'S PARK — Ontario Greens leader and MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to a troubling rise in healthcare clinics charging annual fees for primary care.

“Ontarians should not have to pull out their credit card to access healthcare services. But that is increasingly the reality for people in this province.

It’s only been a few days since we heard about the Ottawa health clinic charging patients an annual ‘membership’ to access primary care, and already we’re learning of other instances of this same practice across the province.

These clinics are using a well-known loophole to capitalize on Ontarians’ desperate need for access to primary care. It’s a troubling pattern that should concern all of us.

It’s also a symptom of a government that sees healthcare as a commodity.

How many more empty promises of investigations, crackdowns or warnings are we going to hear before this government actually does something?

The best way to stop illegal fees is to invest in our public healthcare system, and the people who keep it running.

The people of Ontario want a healthcare system where every public dollar goes towards patient care – not shareholder profits.

We need to care for the people who care for us and we need a healthcare system that puts people, not private shareholders, first.”

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