Re: Where can I find treatment?

[Patte Rosebank]

What really frustrates me about Ontario’s (and, indeed, all of Canada’s) health care system is that it covers medical care, but there are huge waits for any sort of specialized care (or to get a family doctor) because there just aren’t the resources; and that it doesn’t cover dental care or psychological treatment.

Dental care is horrifically expensive, and dental problems, left untreated, will lead to catastrophic health problems, including blindness and death. The Toronto Star did a big feature on this, last year. I call attention to this, because I have a cracked root in a tooth, which has spread infection to the surrounding bone and tissue. The Bank of Mom and Dad has already paid $700 for diagnostics (2 visits to an endodontist, and a CT scan from another endodontist), and will be paying over $1000 for the oral surgery to cut off and remove the damaged root (the “business end of the tooth will be left in the 5-tooth bridge it’s a part of) tomorrow morning. OHIP no longer covers even basic extractions, and even private insurance (which I don’t have) is usually quite limited in what it covers, so if it weren’t for the Bank of Mom and Dad, I’d be totally screwed.

As for psychological care, it’s long-since been proven that mental conditions are best treated with a combination of medications (psychiatric treatment) and talk-therapy (psychological treatment). But only the psychiatric treatments are covered by OHIP, leaving patients on the hook for the $125 an hour sessions with a psychologist. And we all know just how many people with mental conditions are able to afford that. For those on disability or welfare, that $125 is 1/3 of their monthly benefit cheque.

Governments are so willing to piss away billions on show-off events like the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the G8 and G20 summits, or on joining wars in other countries that really don’t have anything to do with us. But whenever someone suggests they increase spending on health care, or special ed programs for schools, they insist they haven’t got the money. Health care and special ed just aren’t sexy enough. When it becomes personal (as when a politician loses a mentally ill family member to suicide, or someone goes postal in a workplace), only then is a bit of attention paid to the problem. This is clearly a case of closing the barn door long after the animals have escaped. (Not that those of us with mental issues are animals, but it’s a perfect metaphor for the situation.)

Waste, injustice, and missed opportunities always make me angry, so this has me furious!

REPORT ABUSE