On June 7, 2004, the Ontario government passed Bill 8, the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act, 2004, making universal, public medicare the law in Ontario.
Bill 8 clearly reflects the belief that the health system must be patient-centred and respond to assessed need, not a person's ability to pay. It closed legislative loopholes that allowed queue-jumping and extra billing, and made two-tier medicare illegal in Ontario.
Under the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act, 2004 (CFMA) :
- Extra-billing is prohibited – Physicians and designated practitioners cannot charge more than the amount payable under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for providing an insured service to an insured person.
- Charging patients for an insured service is prohibited – Clinics cannot charge insured patients or their private insurers for a service insured under OHIP.
- Queue jumping is prohibited – The CFMA prohibits anyone from accepting payment for giving a person preferred access to an insured service.
- Physicians must report queue jumping – It is mandatory for a physician who believes that a person has paid to queue jump or accepted a payment to allow queue jumping to inform OHIP. Failure to report can result in a fine of up to $1,000.
- Penalties will be enforced – Any individual convicted of contravening the provisions of the CFMA is liable for a fine of up to $10,000, depending upon the nature of the offence. Corporations are liable for fines of up to $25,000 per offence.
- Block or annual fees may not be used to circumvent the universality of medicare – The CFMA does not prohibit charging fees for uninsured services like cosmetic surgery or some diet and fitness consultation. However, it clearly prohibits a physician, hospital or clinic from requiring patients to pay any form of fee before providing insured services.
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Call the ministry INFOline at 1-866-532-3161
(Toll-free in Ontario only)
TTY 1-800-387-5559
Hours of operation : 8:30am - 5:00pm |
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