We are writing today to urge your action on a critical and time-sensitive matter. Access to healthcare for uninsured people in Ontario is under threat of facing drastic cuts. In March 2020, in response to community advocacy, the Ford government temporarily expanded access to care for uninsured people, by: (1) removing the three-month waiting period for OHIP which affects new immigrants, new permanent residents, and returning Canadian citizens; and, (2) creating a new funding stream for physicians and hospitals for providing medically necessary services to uninsured people (OHIP Bulletin 4749).
These changes have significantly improved healthcare access and health outcomes of uninsured people living in Ontario. In the past, we know that denial of care and delays in seeking care, resulting in complications and even death, were not uncommon. We have reason to believe the Ford government may be looking to imminently roll these changes back. Today, we ask you to sign the below-linked open letter to urge the Ontario government to implement a permanent program to ensure universal access to healthcare services, independent of insurance status.
Open letter - https://forms.gle/R9dvxPjHUNgY8k868
If you are part of the Ontario healthcare and health community, please sign individually, and also let us know if you know of any Ontario based organizations who may be willing to sign on. We are collecting signatories until Tuesday, July 26th.
Please circulate this open letter privately via email for sign-ons from additional members of the Ontario health community (clinicians, researchers, health policy workers, health students, harm reduction workers) and Ontario community organizations. At this time, we ask that you refrain from sharing this letter publicly on any website or social media platforms - we will request public sharing when the letter is officially launched.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [log in to unmask]. We greatly appreciate your support and hope to hear back from you soon.
Sincerely,
Ritika, Healthcare for All Coalition