TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Patients who have been unfairly charged for surgeries and diagnostic tests at private clinics were today joined by more than 160 advocates at the Ontario Legislative Assembly for a “Day of Action” demanding answers and action.
When he announced his government's plans to significantly expand the privatization of surgical and diagnostic rooms in Ontario's public hospitals, Premier Ford said that no patient will ever have to pay with their credit card, only with their OHIP card. When asked if patients would have to pay anything if they had surgery at a private clinic, he vowed that would be the case. “100 percent” covered. “We will never back down from this”.
Such additional bills and user fees are prohibited by the Canada Health Act and laws protecting Ontario's public health insurance program, but private clinics are increasingly charging patients with impunity, says the Ontario Health Coalition.
In June, the Ontario Health Coalition sent official letter to the Minister of Health and to the ministry with formal complaints from fifty patients who were accused of being treated in private clinics. To date, none of the complaining patients have been contacted to investigate the complaint.
Bruce Awad was charged more than $1,000 for additional tests and lenses when he went for cataract surgery at a private clinic in Windsor. He was one of the patients included in a formal complaint to the minister in June. “I am very upset that the government has not attempted to contact me to investigate this complaint,” he said. “The complaint is serious. I allege that the government misled us, lied to us about not having to pay for health care in Ontario, and I had to pay a significant amount of money. I think the government should be held accountable for this.”
“Usually with any type of complaint to a government or organization, someone will investigate the complaint to see if it is valid. But nothing has been done and they don't seem to care. They seem to think I'll forget about it or move on,” he continued. “But $1,100 is not something I'll forget. Especially when Doug Ford said almost word for word on national television that Ontarians wouldn't have to pay with their credit card, just their OHIP card. That's a lie… I'm just not going to walk away and forget about the money I had to spend. I'm going to fight this until I get justice.”
Dr. James Deutsch's wife was paid $7,850 for cataract surgery at a private Toronto clinic. He is also one of those who filed a formal complaint with the department in June and was never contacted for an investigation. His wife, Judith, died in April, and Dr. Deutsch filed the complaint on her behalf. “I believe they took advantage of her desperate situation and convinced her to choose a more expensive lens and type of procedure for each eye. She was afraid to go out. She couldn't ask questions,” he said. “Having a profit incentive and the ability to charge higher fees for a procedure can lead to situations such as selling services that are not needed.”
“We demand that the Ford government reimburse all patients who were wrongfully charged for surgeries and diagnostic tests at private clinics,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “Patients at private clinics are lied to about wait times at public hospitals to convince them to pay outrageous costs. They are told that OHIP-covered surgeries have poor outcomes or are substandard in order to manipulate them into paying an average of $3,500 to $4,000 per eye at private cataract surgery clinics. They are led to believe that lenses unrelated to cataract surgery are somehow necessary for good results from that surgery. Seniors on fixed incomes have their savings wiped out, are forced to return to work in retirement, or take out loans to pay for operations. These things should never happen in Canada.”
“Mr. Ford has repeatedly made promises that have proven to be untrue,” she added. “He promised guardrails. In fact, there are no guardrails. We filed formal complaints and nothing happened. Some patients waited four months. Some waited over a year. They didn't even contact the patients to investigate. No one received a refund.”
The coalition demands that all patients be reimbursed for improper charges and that violating clinics be fined, as well as have their OHIP billing suspended and their licenses revoked, as required by the Commitment to a Future Medicare Act (2004). The coalition examined operating rooms used in public hospitals as a solution and found that most of their operating rooms are closed most of the time because they are not given the means to operate at full capacity. They are calling on the Ford government to increase funding and capacity for public hospitals and stop the expansion of for-profit clinics.
Ms. Mehra further clarified key patient information to counter manipulative and false information given to patients to persuade them to pay:
- Patients should be advised that waiting lists for cataract surgery in public hospitals are No long. Eighty percent of Ontario patients with the most urgent needs receive surgery within 47 days (7 weeks), according to the data. Ontario Wait Time Tracking Site. Patients with the lowest priority are operated on within 104 days (14 weeks).
- There is no “basic” lens. Doctors must evaluate and test all patients to determine the appropriate custom lenses that the patient needs. These custom lenses are covered by OHIP.
- Cataract surgery does not require additional tests or lenses. The lenses that clinics try to sell for thousands of dollars are usually not intended for cataract surgery, but for other types of vision correction or modification. We hear from patients that some have good results and some don't. Please do your own research without using commercial clinic sites if you are being sold other types of lenses.
- Cataract surgery and intraocular lens replacement are covered by OHIP regardless of how the surgery is performed (for example, with a laser or a scalpel). Private clinics that claim otherwise are not telling the truth.
- Patients should not be required to pay for unnecessary additional tests and upgraded lenses in order to receive medically necessary surgery.
- No private clinic can tell patients that they will get help faster if they pay a fee.
- Cataract surgery covered by OHIP has good results. Patients can be confident of this.
- Eye drops needed for cataract surgery are covered under OHIP.
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Despite the crisis of underfunding in our public hospitals, this summer the Ford government unveiled plans spend $155 million in public money, open 57 more private for-profit clinics even though they cost more per operation and charge patients illegal user fees on top. Ford government funding for private clinics is US$605 per eye for cataract surgery, while comparable funding for public hospitals is US$500.; they finance a private hospital, Clearpoint (formerly Don Mills Surgical), $1,264 for cataract surgery, compared to $500 at public hospitals.; Freedom of information requires forced disclosure of contracts for Contract for private cataract surgery in Kingston, Ontario, which shows it costs 56% more than public hospital costs.. Ontario funds its public hospitals at minimum price per person ($1,935 per capita in 2024) in any Canadian province.
For more information: Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition (416) 230-6402 [email protected]; Salah Shadir cell (647) 648-5706 [email protected].
