What is alarming, I say to the members opposite, is that people in the province of Ontario pay even more out of pocket for health care than is expected of other Canadians. Across Canada, 30% of health care costs are paid for privately. In Ontario, the percentage is 34% and it's growing every year. People are expected to pay out of pocket for more and more services that have been delisted from OHIP. They are paying more for physiotherapy and private clinics because the OHIP-funded clinics are being squeezed out of business. They are paying more for home care because home care services are rationed. They are paying newer, larger co-payments for drugs or for long-term care. In the north, people are forced to pay for travel to get care. That doesn't even count in the 34%. People are paying to jump the queue to get MRIs, which isn't legal, but it is what seems to happen if you mix public and private care in the same facility.
Canada has always prided itself, not just on the quality of our health care system, but on the fact that health care in this country is universally accessible. The report of the World Health Organization has a sobering message for us: We are losing that universal access. We do have a good health care system. Now the challenge is to make sure everyone can benefit from it.
http://www.ocsa.on.ca/feedback/hansard_99_00/body_hansard_000621a.html
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