Ontario Liberal health critic Adil Shamji introduced a new bill on Wednesday afternoon aimed at banning private-pay nurse practitioner clinics. The proposed bill, called the “Keeping Primary Care Fair Act,” also seeks to increase penalties for those who break public health care rules.
Shamji’s bill aims to close loopholes that allow private-pay clinics to operate. He believes these clinics worsen the problem of accessing primary care in Ontario.
When he says "loopholes," he is referring to a breach in the Canada's Health Act that technically can be interpreted as only forbidding charging patients for services that are covered by OHIP, which can not be the case for services provided by nurse practitioners.