Shedding Light on the Recent Minsitry of Health cuts to Health Care by Dr.Herzig
As you are aware the Ministry of Health (MOH) has made a number of recent cuts to health care that will have a huge impact on vision care in Ontario. Dr. Herzig (the Herzig Eye Institute) has put together some points to shed some light on how this will affect us:
1. MOH has significantly reduced fees paid to doctors for technologically advanced tests which have improved treatment of sight-threatening diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease and glaucoma. They have also limited the number of times that a doctor can perform the tests despite medical evidence indicating that they need to be done more frequently.
2. This will take us back to the way these eye diseases were treated 20 years ago. The result of this government interference will be that many patients will lose significant vision and some will become legally blind.
3. They have not only indicated that they will not pay for these tests to be done as frequently as they should, but have also made it illegal for patients to pay for the tests, taking away a human right to seek the best care possible.
4. The MOH has significantly reduced the fee for anesthetic care during cataract surgery. Many anesthetists have already indicated that they will not be available for cataract surgery. Most cataract patients, being elderly, have some medical problems. The absence of anesthetic coverage will not only increase anxiety levels for both the surgeon and patient, but will also increase the medical risk. Some patients may die as a result of the government interfering with proper medical care.
5. Many doctors will leave Ontario and new doctors will start their practices elsewhere as a result of these draconian government changes. This will result in longer wait times to get specialized care and make it more difficult to find a family doctor than it already is.
No comments:
Post a Comment