ontario healthcare

Ontario woman says she was asked to pay for OHIP-covered healthcare in viral video

As people in Ontario continue to denounce the shoddy state of the healthcare system and other public services, one woman's recent experience of being asked to pay at a local doctor's office is garnering a ton of attention, especially amid ongoing privatization fears.

The woman took to TikTok earlier this week to share her frustration with Premier Doug Ford's leadership, and her story is clearly resonating with others, racking up tens of thousands of views on the platform and others.

After being told that her family doctor had no available appointments in the coming days, the resident called a walk-in clinic to see if she could get testing and treatment quicker, as she believed she may have strep throat.

But, she was told that she would have to pay nearly $100 to come in and be assessed by a nurse — something that should be covered by OHIP, along with the full cost of any medically necessary services at a doctor's office or hospital.

"I called the clinic and they said, 'Our doctor's not taking any walk-ins, but you can see our registered nurse for $95.' I said, 'This isn't covered by OHIP?' and she said 'No, OHIP won't pay her,'" the patient explains in her post, which reads "Thanks Douggie" overtop.

"So OHIP is denying payment and they're being forced to charge people. We're paying out of our butts in taxes for healthcare... on top of all those taxes, we have to pay out of pocket for services that are supposed to be covered."

Among hundreds of comments, some people falsely purported that citizens have to pay if they are seen at a clinic other than their family doctor's, or wondered if this particular clinic was just scamming people out of money illegally.

But, as stated on the province's website, there is no fee for walk-in healthcare, so long as you have your health card and are seeking medically necessary tests, diagnoses and treatment.

Family Health Teams, though, operate differently, and may charge for rapid access to appointments with a nurse practitioner, which, while legal, is still considered a form of two-tiered health care by some. It is likely that the woman in this situation contacted a FHT clinic.

In an update the following day, the woman said that she was able to access free, OHIP-covered care at another walk-in clinic, where she was diagnosed with a sinus infection.

She has also reached out to her MP and MPP to notify them of the incident and her concerns about the move toward privatization of healthcare in Ontario.

Lead photo by

@mammasrobe


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