this is the kind of ridiculousness we face. Bureaucrats and their rules.
From the TO Sun
Heartless rules deny coverage to dying Canadian nurse, a mother of 4 forced by cuts to work in the U.S.
By LINDA LEATHERDALE, BUSINESS EDITOR, TORONTO SUN
In my head, the lyrics kept playing over and over:
"How can people be so cruel? How can people be so heartless."
As a mother of a daughter who's fought cancer, I couldn't help but break into tears as I listened to Roy Green's talk show on 900 CHML -- where Loretta Bunton, the Hamilton mother of a 36-year-old nurse diagnosed with terminal cancer, was begging Dalton McGuinty's Liberals to have some heart.
But as the Three Dog Night song goes, it was "easy to say no" for Premier McGuinty and Health Mininster George Smitherman -- until Green, Tory leader John Tory, former federal Liberal Party president Stephen LeDrew and I turned this into one political hot potato that brought voter rage to a boil.
Here's Loretta's heartwrenching story.
Her daughter, Vanessa Kilp, is a born-bred Canadian, who became a nurse and who has worked at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital (which saved my daughter's life), as well as at a hospital in Sarnia.
But, as the big squeeze hit health care and Vanessa's hours were cut back, she had no choice but to seek employment in the U.S., where nursing professionals are in hot demand.
NEEDED THE WORK
The sole breadwinner for a family of four, aged 11 to 17, Vanessa needed the work. She took a job in California, where her employer even helped with the rent, since West Coast real estate prices were through the roof.
That was two years ago. Then in June of this year she received devastating news. She had cancer in her liver and lungs.
With treatment, she may live for a year. Without, she had three to six months.
Covered by Blue Cross, she had a few treatments in the U.S. -- but she yearned to come home to be with her mom and family.
So, on Aug. 29, she moved back to Sarnia and went to a London, Ont., hospital for chemotherapy, which she received with no problem.
That was until Vanessa went to an Ontario health ministry office to update her OHIP card. The ministry employee confiscated it, and told her it would take 90 days to reinstate her coverage.
DEAD IN 90 DAYS
Vanessa panicked. Without medication, she could be dead in 90 days. She pleaded with OHIP and called her MPP -- but all to no avail. Rules are rules and they can't be bent, she was told.
With no OHIP coverage and faced with a bill of almost $5,000 a treatment, which she couldn't afford, Vanessa had no choice but to cancel her next hospital visit.
Her mom was outraged. Afterall, often there's no wait for health care for failed U.S. army deserters who are refugee claimants. Some out-of-country AIDs victims who came to a recent conference and claimed refugee status are also getting help. Even landed immigrants can have better access.
Yet, here's a Canadian nurse, who helped save lives and paid taxes in this country, and she's denied.
Desperate, Loretta called Green's show.
"My daughter has paid taxes, high taxes, for at least 15 years. She's a Canadian, and this is how she's treated," Loretta complained on Green's show.
BOB RAE BLAMED
So the fight began.
"She will not die with unimaginable pain because of the brutality of the McGuinty government," Green vowed.
We then made a flurry of calls to Smitherman's office.
And this is what I was told:
Bob Rae's NDP were to blame. In a clampdown on Canadians leaving the country, then coming back when they needed health care, they passed a regulation that ruled you can only be out of the country for 180 days, then must return for 48 hours, to keep health care coverage current.
Otherwise, you face a 90-day wait.
"The regulation is to ensure Canadian residency, not a visitor just accessing our health care," said a spokesman for Smitherman's office.
He also told me he could not comment on individual cases, and pointed out the regulation does not allow for discretion. In other words, too bad, so sad. As for refugees getting health care, he said that's a federal government matter.
On Green's show the following day -- anger hit the meltdown point. Listeners were spitting nails that it's okay for McGuinty to lie about taxes and break the Taxpayer Protection Act with his $9-billion health tax grab. Yet he can't bend a rule to help a dying Canadian.
Hamilton Mayor Larry Di Ianni listened in and called Dr. Bill Evans at Hamilton's Juravinski Cancer Centre. Evans then called Dr. Brian Dingle at London's Health Science Centre. He tracked down Vanessa's file, and the good news came: The London hospital would resume Vanessa's treatment, and she could pay later when OHIP coverage kicked in.
Then, just as I was writing about a partial victory in this column, my phone line lit up. It was Smitherman's office.
GOOD NEWS
"Linda, we haven't changed the rules," the spokesman was adamant. "But you might want to call the family."
Vanessa was ecstatic when I called. An OHIP official had just confirmed she now had coverage, effective immediately, and health cards for her, her husband and four children were being sent out.
Vanessa will now get a CT scan on Tuesday, and consultation for radiation on Thursday.
"This is such a big burden off my shoulders. I can continue my treatment and be here as long as I can for my family," she said. "I am forever grateful."
Green was also relieved. "Now an 11-year-old doesn't have to hear that Ontario let her mommy die."
What I want to know is why did we have to go through this in the first place? As the song goes, "How can people be so cruel?" |
