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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-01-29, Page 1INCUR OKATING.,TH B$Y.`t 1 TAN ARL)11-81 BEA1 II; iEL BUGLE No. 5 121 YEARS EXTRA -BILLING... WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29,1986 50 CENTS A fight for. prmeiple.s • • By Alan Rivett CLINTON - As far as one Clinton doctor's concerned, the right to extra -bill patients is the last frontier for physicians to maintain their professional independence from government control. Dr. Brian Baker, a physician in Clinton for 15 years and past president of the Huron County Branch of the Ontario Medical Assocation, says he bills his patients through OHIP (Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan) and doesn't extra -bill. However,, he feels the current fight by the medical profession to have the extra -billing legislation overturned is a fight for prin- ciples, hot for money. "The fact that I don't extra -bill doesn't mean I'm not in favor of extra -billing. It's not a matter of dollars and cents. It's really our last freedom in terms of independence from government. "Once this is taken away, we cease to be ® independent practitioners. We become civil servants," said Dr. Baker. The legislation to ban extra -billing, called the Health Care Accessibility Act, was in- troduced by Ontario Health Minister Mut- ray Elston last month. It would make extra- bi.11ing illegal, but would allow physicians to "opt out" of OHIP as long as charges for medical services do not exceed the current OHIP rate schedule. Doctors who continue to extra -bill are subject to a fine of up to $10,000. Dr. Baker says the government's primary reason for the legislation which claims extra -billing will result in the health care becoming inaccessible to those of limited financial means is a "figment of the politi- cians imagination." "I challenge anyone - anyone who can find me someone who is suffering because of extra -billing in access to medical care," he said. Currently, he says, only five per cent of doctors in the province extra -bill, which means they are charging the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) rates instead of those set down by OHIP. The patients then pay the differnce' between the OMA and OHIP rates which represents a 30 per cent increase. DRU BRIAN BAKER tors across the province should opt -out of OHIP "to save our professional integrity" - even if it means increased administration cost to doctors associated with billing pa- tients directly. "As a member of the OMA, if it means op- ting out - I'll do it. It's a political issue, it has nothing to do with dollars and cents. Our backs are against the wall. My personal freedom as a physician is gone once this legislation is passed and I .object to it," said Dr. Baker. " He refers to OHIP as a "first class system" which he finds is preferred by doc- tors and patients alike. But, he finds the government action towards extra -billing is not designed to improve the system, but as an attempt to use extra -billing for political purposes-- tQ take total control of the. medical system. "To force an honored profession to go to this extreme (opt out of 'OHIP) makes you angry. If the government wins, what next? They'll impose more controls. This is only the first of many things to come," he warn- ed. Dr. Baker says it's not only the doctor's fight for control over the medical system, it's the public's fight as well. In alluding to government's control over the medical system, he says the public is denied the right to pay through a private insurance company or through OHIP. The motivation behind the legislation is "This right no longer, exists, it's been further fuelled by the Federal Health Care legislated out of existence, he said, refer", Act of 1984 which has called for an end to ing to OHIP's position as the soul provider of 'extra -billing in the provinces. The Ontario medical insurance in Ontario. "There's no government claims an estimated $4.4 private insurance carrier in Ontario for doc- million in federal funding is lost per month tor's services. It's illegal." to the Ontario health care system because of. In the future, Dr. Baker speculated he can extra -billing. see 90 .per cent of Ontario's physicians op - Currently, the OMA is urging its 17,000 ting out of OHIP, but he can't see an membership to opt -out of OHIP and bill Ontario -wide doctors' strike because of the their patients a small amount above OHIP repercussions that might be felt from pa - fees in protest to the legislation. In Huron tients. "We need to have our patients, County, Dr. Art Steed of Clinton, president families and friends as our allies." of the local branch of'the OMA, says it's still He feels if the majority of doctors opt out undecided as to what measures to take. of OHIP, the government will be forced to "We're still getting feedback from our either negotiate with the doctors or legislate members. Nothing is planned as yet;" said them back into OHIP. Dr. Steed. "If they legislate e§ bael ix to OHIP, the Although he will follow whatever the local public, will- see them for what they really - chapter of the OMA decides to do in protest are.. Hopefully, this will show the public to the extra -billing ban, Dr. Baker feels doc- what's really goingon," he said. Fate of psycIiiatric.. service still unknown CLINTON - The Community Psychiatric location. e res is t operating i s culated o e ex- Shipley x Shipley Street address while a new home is pressed their feelings during the November being sought. The present facility is scheduled to be torn down in the spring so a 4 council meeting. parking lot can be made for the new medical At this meeting, the residents explained centre. they were not opposed to the service, but In October of 1985, Ken Engelstead, Ad- still felt the land should remain residential. r inistrator of the Alexandra Marine and A letter with 15 signatures was presented to General Hospital 'in' Goderich which council at that time. Because Mr. Engelstead had hoped to be operates the clinic, went before council re- out of the present building by the end of 1985, questing the zoning of residential land along council filed the issue as one objection would Joseph and Isaac ty. This changed t Mr. lead to an Ontario MunicipalBoard hearing, community facility. site, delaying the rezoning process further. Engelstead felt, would be an ideal location On January 22, Mr. Engelstead told the for the clinic, providing privacy for the News -Record that the clinic is still trying to enterance and departure of clients as well find a new home. > parking space. "It's not going to be easy to find space," After hearing the protests of concerned he said. "We are in the very preliminary stages of looking at space in Huronview. There has beenno discussion on it yet and no commitment has been made." Meanwhile, the ' Community Psychiatric Services 'has received an extension, allow- ing the clinic to remain at 105 Shipley Street until March. Services still out of t 105 Copies of the revised bylaw were cir- t th concerned residents who Increases limited to four percent in 1986 budget Although it hasn't heard anything about grant increases from the provincial ministry of education, the Huron County board of education has gone ahead and limited increases for 1986 to four per cent. At its Jan. 13 meeting, Director of Education Robert Allan recommended that if any group or individuals within the school board's departments want an in- crease greater than four per cent, they have to make a similar reduction in their get elsewhere. ome of those areas where there may be considerable increases are in industrial arts in elementary schools and additional secretarial time. Both subjects are being studied further by board committees. "Our intent is to give a bit of a guideline," said Allan. The school board followed a similar budgetary process last year, and it seemed to work. The director said he anticipates an in- crease of about five per cent in school board spending, but he doesn't know how that will affect the amount the localtax- payers pay in education taxes. Huron County board • to take in-depth look The Huron County board of education is going to be taking an in-depth look at itself to set goals for the next three years of its term. At its Jan. 13 meeting, the school board decided it would go on a retreat this spr- in. Prior that however, a committee mau�e-tfi mostly of new trustees will review the board's procedures. Director of Education Robert Allan, who made the recommendations to the school board, said the purpose of having the new trustees review the existing pro- cedures would be to make them familiar with the material. However, trustee Joan Van den Broeck of Colborne Township said the new trustees have 'never dealt with the pro- cedures. "I don't think it would serve a usefulpro- cess," she said. But, to accommodate her concerns, the board added one experienced trustee to the committee roster besides the new trustees. The board's vice chairman John Jewitt, was already named as chairman of the committee. Dennis Rau of RR 2, Zurich was named as the experienced trustee. The goals for the next three years will be set in a retreat setting, but no further details have yet been made. Fifty-eight bodies support board"s.'insui'ance resolution. Support for the Huron -Perth Roman Catholic separate school board's resolu- tion on high liability insurance premiums continues to pour in. Trustees heard at the board's Jan. 13 meeting that to date, 61, municipalities and school boards have responded to. the - resolution which the boardsent_ .out late last year. The resolution called for action from the provincial government. Specifically, the school board wants the government to change or remove legislation which allows judicial courts to allow "excessive lawsuits and court awards": The board took the action after -they had a 98 per cent increase in their 1986 in- surance premum. r Director of +duration William.Eckert Said of the 61 responses, 50 have supported the resolution while the Other three wanted ) further information. The school board also received a letter from Perth MP Hugh Edighoffer who wants a list of supporters for the, resolution which he could turn over to the provincial attorney general, Ian Scott. There was discussion on joining a group being formed by the Ontario Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) for co- operative insurance among school boards in the province. While the board is in- terested 'in receiving information, Superintendent of Business and .Finance Jack Lane cautioned the board on support' ting such a co-operative. ' "There is considerableerable fearlamorig rural boards to co-insure with large Metropolitan boards,' said Lane became' those larger beards are, more susceptible to insurance'clauns. residents and being presented with a list o approximately 50 names, council requested a bylaw be drawn up which stated that the land be used for a clinic only..This would not allow a -church, community centre er any other facility which falls under the com- munity facility title to be established at that Transmission lines not needed .says Foodland Hydro Committee By Stephanie Levesque However, after some sheepish grins, If Ontario Hydro practises energy effi-Lovins changed some of his calculations. A ciency there's no need for the $432 million mistake in his figures made Lovins concede transmission line it proposes to build out of that Hydro would save a fifth, not a half, the Bruce Nuclear Power Development power it produces yearly. (BNPD). In his testimony, Lovins said Ontario The Foodland Hydro committee, a group ' Hydro should take advantage of local' elec- of about 1200 landowners from Southwestern tricity generation. This is available in two , • Ontario and Energy Probe of Toronto want forms in Ontario - co -generation in industry to prove the proposal to get power out of or small hydro -electric power plants. BNPD isn't necessary. The energy consultant said local genera - "We want to question whether there is a tion stations will reduce the need for the - need to build," said Foodland Hydro large centralized system most utilities have representative Tony McQuail of R.R. 1, - now. Lucknow. The American also cautioned that hydro The joint hearings board, chaired by R.B. customers in his 'country are working so Eisen, is listening to evidence on Ontario hard to save energy, that there will be no Hydro's proposal to construct transmission market for Ontario Hydra's electricity ex - lines from Bruce to Essa ( near Barrie), port. He also predicted that efficiency would from Bruce to London through Huron Coun- enable the utility to back out of coal -burning ty and from London to the Nanticoke, generating stations first then nuclear. generating station on Lake Erie. ' But Hydro and the provincial board of in - Both Energy Probe and the 'Foodland quiry looking into the proposal questioned Hydro committee are bringing in some how the bottled up power would get out of heavyweights to back up their statements. the Bruce station. The ' two groups presented their direct "If this board turned down this proposal, evidence on Day 24 ('Jan. 23) of the hearings Ontario Hydro could get to efficiency load being held at a hotel in Guelph. management and concentrate their minds Amory Lovins, an energy consultant from wonderfully," Lovins told the board. Colorado, was the first witness called to Besides Lovins, the Foodland Hydro com- testify for the anti -transmission line group. mittee plans to bring in Dr. John Robinson Lovins demonstrated that an 18 -watt com- of the University of Guelph, a load forecast pact fluorescent light bulb could cut the use specialist and Michael Rau, plant manager of hydro power by half. The American of the Huron County Board of Education. energy consultant said these bulbs sell for McQuail says Rau has developed energy about $15 in the United States, not easy to savings methods. find in Canada, are four times as efficient The hearings are expected to continue in and last 10 times longer than standard In- Guelph through February. After that they candescent bulbs. He says that in the U.S., will move to London, Simcoe, Markdale and regular.incandescent'bulbs use about 42 Der Clinton. The hearings are expected to hit cent of all lighting electricity. Clinton on Apr. 15. Minister learns from experience By Stephanie Levesque Taking what it has, learned from previous negotiations, federal Agriculture Minister John Wise wants a "better deal" for Cana- dian agriculture. "We want better access to .export markets, better controls on export subsidies and contractural rules that apply equally and fairly to all countries," he said. The federal minister was the guest speaker at the annual meetingof the Huron Cattlemen's Association. He admitted that the United States did better in negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (.GATT), than did Canada. The European 'Economic Council (EEC) is allowed to import up to $23. million worth of goods to Canada, but only $11 million to the United States. "We learned from our experience," he. said.. He was more optimistic about those GATT talks in his speech. "At the end of our (GATT) negotiations, we had succeeded in preventing costly retaliatory action by the EEC against a wide range of agricultural exports. And, at the same time, we had negotiated a new EEC beef import level for 1985 - just over 10,000 tonnes. That's less than half of the 1984 level. And it's nowhere even remotely near the 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes I heard predicted in some quarters," he said. The federal agriculture minister was questioned on free trade negotiations with the United States. Wise said all that Canada has done is send a message to Washington indicating the government is interested in bilateral trade negotiations. "That's where we are," he stated. Again, he stressed that the trade deal has to be a good one for Canada. "We want a good deal, . a square deal, a better deal for agriculture or there ain't go ing to be a deal," said Wise. He was verbally attacked by one spec- tator for not taking stronger action against American states that closed their borders last year to Canadian pork. • "There is a misunderstanding of what we can do," commented Wise. He said the states that close their borders have to answer to the federal government. in Washington; not Ottawa. Also on trade negotiations .with the U.S., Wise said a 40 -member advisory committee Federal Agriculture Minister John Wise was in Clinton to speak at the annual Huron Cat- has been appointed, with the members tiemen's Association meeting. Mr. Wise believes Canadian agriculture deserves a "bet - representing -a cross -section -Of -Canada. He-:.-:-ter-deal.'—(Stephanie: Levesque: photo) couldn't reveal any names, but noted that ariculture expected. to have agriculture the largest Ontario Was the first to sign, then came is sub-catnmittee� _ _ _1Pr`i)i Edwa Island then tl�lbetta, said p n Wise. He ex ects Saskatchewan and In his speech to the 200 cat lame gathered in Clinton, Wise also commented Manitobawin oin shortly. on tripartite stabilization which he rioted the j i Huron group asked for last Septemberz "with these ar3�angetYle'15ts signed, part' "The day, I signed the agreements with - n viace's will re reseigt the par- , the minister , Jack Rid& ticipati gl�ro .. p dell, itt a , e da , .14181:7:6:0 f more than cent of Canada's ", . as., he tla ti�at � dery fed as the uct;iat) a;:, ... , .. dci w, _ t y u n " h s .75 r cent bf allbrile; cattle, and abo t ., . , tin s tet a terriber, i rsolitxor[ tau sent t 70 r ce C : e r : , e said. Wisd noted that after almost 13 ,years of "frustration• and -failed_. negotiations:-aittang. farmers and governments the federal 'government put the necessary legisiatk n in place. ' "It took 14 years to bring every province into the crop inst►rance scheme, and I don't expect tripartite stabilization to attract full participation overnight, he reminded the farrnere.