11/22/2021
Optometrists to resume eye exams for kids and seniors as job action is paused….😳
Ontario optometrists and government are entering into formal negotiations over a funding dispute that has dragged on for nearly three months, with eye doctors agreeing to resume publicly funded services for seniors and children in the meantime.
The Ontario Association of Optometrists will be “pausing” its job action starting Tuesday, the group said in a statement, while talks with the province resume. The two sides have made the breakthrough after months of public feuding, with optometrists arguing their services have been chronically underfunded and the province accusing eye doctors of failing to negotiate.
The OAO, which withdrew Ontario Health Insurance Plan services on Sept. 1 for those 19 and younger and 65 and over, has so far meant that hundreds of thousands of people have not been able to access eye care. Thousands of cataract referrals have also been cancelled.
The association said comments made by Health Minister Christine Elliott in the legislature on Oct. 6 stated that the government doesn’t expect optometrists to pay “out of pocket” for services they provide, and offers a “public commitment” to ensure the cost of OHIP-delivered services is not borne by optometrists.
“The OAO is committed to negotiating a sustainable funding model that aligns with how optometric care is funded in other Canadian jurisdictions,” it said Monday in a statement announcing its return to formal negotiations and OHIP services.
“The OAO expects robust talks to begin immediately, noting that the swift resolution of this issue is a top priority for both optometrists and their patients.”
Ms. Elliott said she was pleased the group has agreed to join the government in resuming direct face-to-face talks.
“As a result of this agreement to resume negotiations, the OAO has advised the Ministry of Health that any OHIP-insured eye and vision care services that were previously affected by this impasse will resume effective Nov. 23, 2021. Both parties have also agreed to a media blackout on this topic during the course of these negotiations. The Ministry of Health is at the negotiations table ready to reach a timely and fair agreement regarding this important matter,” she said in a statement.
The dispute between the OAO and the province centres on funding for services covered by OHIP.
Currently, OHIP pays for eye exams for people 19 and younger; those 65 and older; and people with special conditions, such as diabetes, glaucoma and macular degeneration, at about $45 an exam. But the true cost of an exam is $80, and government funding needs to reach that level, Sheldon Salaba, president of the OAO, has said.
The government previously offered a one-time payment of $39-million to the province’s 2,500 optometrists. It also offered to increase OHIP fee reimbursements to optometrists by 8.48 per cent, retroactive to April 1, as well as immediately strike a joint working group to collaborate on investigating the cost of overhead.
But the OAO has said that is not nearly enough to make eye care sustainable for optometrists who are covering costs out of their own pockets.
