Uninsured patients denied scheduled C-sections unless they pay $6,000, midwife says

In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.

In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.

“The hospital would not book her C-section unless she pays $6,000 in advance,” Handa said, referring to one of her patients. “She has five weeks, she doesn’t have that money.”

The patient is a migrant from Central America without citizenship documentation, Handa said, and had her baby been born this week, the procedure would have been covered.

On April 1, the government of Ontario will end a program set up during the pandemic, which allowed uninsured patients to seek medical care. Hospitals and medical staff billed the government directly for their care.

A week ago, health-care professionals found out about the upcoming change, leading to demonstrations outside of Queen’s Park, shutting down the street around the Ministry of Health office in downtown Toronto.

“Ever since I’ve heard this announcement, I have been losing sleep,” said Dr. Shazeen Suleman, a paediatrician whose patients include refugee children and unaccompanied youth living in shelters.

One patient was 17 years old and weighed 35 pounds, she said, and hadn’t seen a doctor in years.