Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas says she has written to Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot about concerns raised by constituents about prescription medications and the costs involved.
She says constituents are telling her to continue accessing prescription renewals, their physicians are prompting them to pay a third-party company that they have contracted, for a service they used to get for free.
She says a constituent inquired with her doctor’s office about what she could do to avoid paying the new fees and was informed that the only way was with an in-person visit with her doctor.
Gelinas says the woman would have to wait four weeks for a visit, but that was not an option with running out of her medications so she ending up having to pay $20 to renew her prescription and an extra $10 to have it renewed the same day.
Gelinas says she believes the minister will agree with her that refilling a prescription for $20 is a barrier to proper health care and is too expensive for some to pay.
She adds she is hoping to get a prompt response from the minister.