QUEEN’S PARK — MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to reports that private clinics have charged patients over $42,000 in wrongful fees since the government came to power in 2018.
“We’ve known all along that Bill 60 puts shareholder profits before patient care.
And now, not even 24 hours after this egregious legislation passed, we have yet another stark warning about how it’s going to keep harming Ontarians.
Bill 60 does nothing to protect patients from upselling or illegal charges in the moment and on the ground.
The responsibility to prevent or report these illegal fees must not fall onto patient shoulders. Especially when we’ve already heard horror stories about patients who were denied care after voicing these kinds of concerns.
A system that shirks responsibility is not one that works for Ontarians.
The best way to stop illegal fees is to invest in our public healthcare system, and the people who keep it running.
I am calling on the government to immediately repeal Bill 60 and reallocate funding for private, for-profit health facilities to the public system.
Because 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.”