N.S. losing out on health transfers as private medical imaging grows – CBC
More clawbacks could be on the way as Ottawa clamps down on private health care
Jan 15, 2025
Susan Hart didn’t want to wait any longer.
She injured her knee last March and got a referral for an MRI in April, but months went by without an appointment. Meanwhile, her knee was swollen, painful, warm to the touch and crunched when she moved. It kept her mostly housebound.
“In August, I just got fed up and decided to pay for an MRI,” she said in an interview at her home in Halifax.
Hart waited less than a week for an appointment at a private clinic and paid $1,145 for an MRI on her right knee, which confirmed what she had suspected: a torn meniscus. She’s now on a waitlist to see a surgeon.
According to the federal government, no one in Canada should be paying out of pocket for medically necessary MRIs or any other diagnostic imaging services, and it’s punishing Nova Scotia and other provinces for allowing it to happen.
Over the past two years, Ottawa has clawed back more than $3 million in health transfer payments to Nova Scotia over this issue.
