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Small business owner and mother hoodwinked into paying for surgery
“I’m a small business owner in Brampton, Ontario and I am also the primary caregiver for my retired mother. In 2023, both myself and my mother required bilateral cataract surgery. Our optometrist provided a referral to a private eye clinic in Mississauga and informed us that cataract surgeries covered by OHIP would only cover the most basic lenses and that wait times were considerable. Due to my own rapidly deteriorating vision I was anxious to proceed with surgery. My mother was advised that there was the possibility of her driver’s license being revoked due to deterioration of vision. We both attended consultations at the same clinic and were given quotes; there was no verbal mention of OHIP funded surgery during the consultation.
Our decisions to proceed with surgeries were motivated by what we were led to believe to be
a) substandard OHIP covered lens implants
b) very long wait times compounded by massive back-log due to Covid 19 interruptions/delays.
My total invoice was in excess of $6,000 and my mother’s almost identical. The clinic consultant recommended we opt for the laser incision (as opposed to standard scalpel incision) for an additional $2,000 fee. When we questioned as to the necessity or benefit of opting for the laser incision, the consultant admitted there was no data to support any better outcome or discernible difference in the healing process; we declined this outrageous upsell
Given the obvious impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on small businesses and my mother being a retired senior citizen on a fixed income, the nearly $15,000 cost of the combined surgeries has been a horrendous financial burden to our family.
Upon learning that the wait times for this vital surgery were greatly exaggerated, it is undeniable that both myself and my mother could have avoided this substantial expense.
Had there been more transparent communication from the referring optometrist and the private clinic about the perfectly adequate OHIP funded options available to us, we never would have elected to give our hard earned money to an opportunistic private clinic.
Publicly funded health care is being jeopardised by our provincial government pouring money into private clinics. The predatory practices in these clinics must be stopped to protect Ontarians!”
-Anonymous
Brampton Caledon Health Coalition 