Ont. optometrist explains job action, and why OHIP eye exams aren’t being offered
Wednesday marks Day 1 of job action by the Ontario Association of Optometrists.
Officials with the group said it was sparked by three decades of being underfunded.
"When we look back to 1989, the government funded $39 towards an eye exam," said Wes McCann, an optometrist from London, Ont. "Thirty-two years later in 2021 the government funds $44 on average towards an eye exam. So in 32 years, that’s changed $5 on average, so it's just not a sustainable solution."
"I mean we see more seniors every day," McCann continued. "In the last 30 years, the senior population has grown by 70 per cent. So we see more and more patients who are covered by OHIP every year and for us to see those patients at a loss every time is not sustainable."
He said on average it costs optometrists $80 just to see a patient, and his group wants to see that gap closed.
"There’s a huge deficit there that the government isn’t covering and neglecting and is making no effort whatsoever to make that cost of delivery," McCann said.
"So what we’ve been asking from the government is at a minimum at least cover that cost of delivery so that the optometrists aren’t paying out of pocket."
Health Minister Christine Elliot said her government is making every effort possible to lay the foundation for a long-term relationship with the Ontario Association of Optometrists.
"This includes engaging a third-party mediator to assist us in reaching an agreement and offering a one-time lump sum payment as well as an immediate OHIP fee increase," Elliot said in a statement. "This represents a significant and sustainable increase in today’s highly-constrained fiscal environment.
While we had hoped that these discussions would lead to a positive outcome, we are extremely disappointed in the OAO’s decision to decline to resume mediation, as well as the OAO’s encouragement of Ontario’s optometrists to withdraw services, starting today, that many vulnerable Ontarians rely on. To do so as Ontario faces the fourth wave of the pandemic is unconscionable.
Despite the OAO maintaining they are at the table, it’s unclear what table they are sitting at given they have declined the mediator’s conditions. We await a change of heart from the OAO.”
While job action is ongoing, those who are eligible for OHIP services don’t have the option to pay out of pocket to get an eye exam. McCann has said the government has made that illegal for providers to do.
Elliot said the government continues to fund these services and that any decision to withdraw services is the decision of each provider.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.