What’s next to be delisted?

WHEN Ontario’s government last moved to save money on health care, all hell broke loose. The Liberals delisted several services from OHIP in 2004, including chiropractors, optometrists and physiotherapists.
There are 54 chiropractors listed in the Thunder Bay Yellow Pages so it is clear that many people find the non-medical care of sore backs and other body pains popular and effective.
Optometrists are medical doctors who treat cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and other eye diseases. How this was selected as not eligible for medicare coverage remains a mystery.
Physiotherapy is essential to recovery from a host of surgical and accidental events. Without physio, many patients would be rendered permanently disabled. And yet, the government decided this service was no longer important enough to be covered under OHIP.
Medicare is under the microscope again in Ontario and it sounds like more services will soon be under the knife.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Deb Matthews used caesarean sections as an example of services the government is looking at. Again, all hell broke loose and she hastened to clarify Thursday that C-sections will not be delisted. At least not ones recommended by a doctor.
More than 28 per cent of hospital births in Ontario are C-sections. Many are done merely for convenience sake but C-sections can be essential in dangerous birthing situations.
It would appear the government is thinking about keeping only medically necessary C-sections on the OHIP list. This makes more sense than delisting optometry but it ignores options such as birthing centres run by midwives who say their methods can reduce Ontario’s rate of C-sections to 15 per cent — it’s as high as 40 per cent in some hospitals — and save $50 million a year.
Clearly, there are health care options beyond the status quo that Ontario needs to consider.