We urge you to attend the OHC March 19th meeting because:

Ontario healthcare is in crisis, and privatization is not the solution. This is the message that the Ontario Health Coalition is sending out to the public ahead of its meeting this Sunday, March 19 at 1pm at the Benson Centre.

The issue of for-profit “private” healthcare has been a hot topic in Ontario in recent months with Ford diverting your taxpayer dollars to private for-profit hospitals and expanding the role of private clinics.

Ford says that the private sector can offer better, more efficient services than the public sector. But study after study including those quoted by the Ontario Health Coalition argues that private healthcare will have devastating consequences for patients, healthcare workers, and the healthcare system as a whole.

One of the main concerns about for-profit healthcare is that it builds a two-level healthcare system. If you can afford to pay for private healthcare you will get better and faster care. If you cannot pay for private healthcare you will wait longer for medical care that may be more basic.

From the book: “Casino Healthcare” by Dan Munro: “For millions of Americans health insurance is now the largest monthly expense. “This year my family joined millions of others whose health insurance premium has become their biggest annual expense. More than our mortgage. More than our property taxes. More than our state income tax. More than our annual food or energy costs.”

Private healthcare increases healthcare inequality, which is detrimental to the health and well-being of Ontarians.

Furthermore, the Ontario Health Coalition argues that privatization will lead to the crumbling and destabilization of our healthcare system. By introducing market forces (healthcare for profit where providers MUST make a profit) into healthcare, privatization will prioritize profits over patient care, leading to the closure of hospitals and clinics in low-income areas and a concentration of services in wealthier areas. This means small towns like Cornwall may lose their hospitals.

This will not only result in longer wait times for patients but also put more pressure on healthcare workers who will have to cope with increased demand with reduced resources.

The Ontario Health Coalition is urging all area residents to attend their public in-person meeting this Sunday at 1 pm at the Benson Centre room E to show their support for public healthcare, and to learn about the dangers of healthcare privatization. 

The meeting will provide an opportunity for you to hear about what’s really going on in Ontario and how to take concrete action to stop it while improving public healthcare.

Ontarians need to stand up for their right to quality, publicly-funded healthcare by attending this meeting and joining the fight against healthcare privatization. Together, we can ensure that all Ontarians have access to the healthcare services they need, regardless of their income or social status.

Here are some March 2023 tweets about American privatized healthcare. This is where we are heading unless we do something about it.

And if you want a snapshot of how complicated the US system is:

If this bs. is not for you, we’ll see you on Sunday.