Board of health wants end to OHIP wait for immigrants
March 1, 2011
Megan Ogilvie
HEALTH REPORTER
Toronto’s Board of Health is urging the provincial government to eliminate the three-month wait newcomers face for access to OHIP.
A report, presented and passed at Tuesday’s board meeting, presses the government to change the Health Insurance Act to make newly landed immigrants eligible for OHIP from day one.
Scrapping the three-month moratorium would protect public health by helping to ensure newcomers get timely diagnoses and treatments for communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and measles, said Medical Officer of Health Dr. David McKeown.
This is the second time the board has asked the province to eliminate the wait time.
New immigrants without access to OHIP are often reluctant to seek medical treatment because they fear getting stuck with medical bills they cannot afford to pay, McKeown said after the meeting adjourned. Early diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases are important for the individual and for public health, he said.
“We hope to raise the issue with the provincial government and persuade them this is a public health issue in terms of health protection and that it is also an issue of fairness and justice for immigrants to this country,” he said.
The board’s primary concern is for tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease that is passed from person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes and spreads bacteria into the air. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent the disease from spreading.
Toronto sees about 300 tuberculosis cases every year. More than 90 per cent of cases are people who are born outside the country, McKeown said, who notes both Peel’s and Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health have submitted similar recommendations to the province.
“These are other large urban centres that have a lot of immigrants coming in,” he said. “This is an issue.”
Ontario and British Columbia are the only provinces that require immigrants to wait for health care access.
Thuy Tran, health promoter at Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, told the board the three-month wait was hurting immigrants and negatively impacts Ontario. She said new immigrants may choose to live in provinces that don’t have a wait, taking away their skills, knowledge and expertise from Ontario’s labour market.
“The elimination would be the most appropriate measure from a health, economy and equity perspective,” Tran said.
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