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Queen's Park media room screen grab, April 8, 2024

NDP seeks audit of fees charged by private clinics

By Randy Thoms Apr 8, 2024 | 2:38 PM

The opposition wants the Auditor General to investigate the fees charged by private medical clinics.

The NDP says some clinics are charging patients as much as five thousand dollars to access care.

“Increasingly, people across Ontario are facing new charges and fees to access healthcare. New private clinics are popping up, offering faster access to OHIP-covered services, only to upsell patients on unnecessary services and add-ons. This is happening in the context of a serious shortage of healthcare workers and physicians,” says Marit Stiles, leader of the NDP.

Stiles points the blame at the Ford government and a plan to privatize healthcare.

“Doug Ford hasn’t just ignored the problem. He’s encouraged bad faith actors, and now people are paying the price.”

The NDP wrote the Auditor General, who replied the areas for an audit this year already have been selected.

A special audit could be requested, but a resolution had to come through the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.