For $30/month, Ontario doctors offer rapid access to nurse practitioners – CBC
‘This is a form of 2-tier health care,’ says medicare advocate, while acknowledging it’s legal
Feb 22, 2023
Some doctors in Ontario are offering their patients the option of extra health care, at a price: seven-day a week rapid access to appointments with a nurse practitioner, for a fee of around $30 a month.
It’s perfectly legal under both the federal and provincial medicare rules. But since it involves charging for health care, it adds fuel to a growing debate over two-tier health care in Canada.
Kindercare Pediatrics in Toronto launched its nurse-practitioner program in response to overwhelming demand from parents during the surge in respiratory illnesses among kids last fall, said the practice owner, Dr. Dan Flanders.
“We couldn’t keep up,” said Flanders in an interview. “Everybody was working their brains out and we were still turning away close to 100 patients a day.”‘
