Many Ontarians will find it a lot harder to pursue a healthy lifestyle starting April 1.
That’s when the provincial government’s decision to remove physiotherapy from its public health insurance program will come into effect. The policy change was handed down as part of the 2004 budget.
Each session of physiotherapy will now cost $100. Of course, those who are fortunate enough to have private insurance need not worry. But people with lower incomes, who don’t have that coverage, will be affected most by the policy change.
That means it will be harder for those people to stay active.
Physiotherapists ensure that people can enjoy their physical activity of choice.
These experts have trained for years to understand different types of sports-related injuries. They know how to identify what is wrong with an athlete’s body and how to fix the problem quickly.
Active people of all ages who don’t have access to a physiotherapist are at a disadvantage. They must sit on the sidelines and wait for their bodies to heal, not knowing how they will be able to perform in the future.
But the need for physiotherapy goes beyond athletic endeavours. Last September, researchers from the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre published an exhaustive report on cardiovascular disease. The study involved over 30,000 people from 52 countries.
The researchers found that a lack of physical exercise greatly increases the chance that a person will develop a cardiovascular disease. It was previously thought such diseases were hereditary.
More striking about the study’s findings was the strong correlation between income and social status, and the likelihood of developing a cardiovascular disease.
The Ontario government’s decision to remove physiotherapy from its public health coverage disregards the study’s conclusions.
People who don’t properly recover from injuries can’t get the physical exercise researchers say they need. By removing physiotherapy from its public health coverage, the provincial government is making it harder for many people to access the help they need to pursue a healthier lifestyle over a long-term period.
For this reason, the government’s plan may, in addition to threatening people’s health and well being, prove counterproductive.
As fewer people are able to exercise and stay in shape, more will develop cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, more will require public health services to deal with those new, more complex and expensive health procedures.
It’s the government’s duty to make sure all citizens have the resources they need to live as long, and as healthy, as possible. Ontarian’s have been let down by this shortsighted plan to cut costs.