doctors for refugee care "week of reckoning" package

ENDCUTSTO

REFUGEEHEALTHCARE

ELECTION2015

www.doctorsforrefugeecare.caNATIONAL WEEK OF RECKONING • OCT 5 - 9

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

TORONTO — Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care (CDRC) will convene an October 5-9, 2015 “National Week of Reckoning” calling on Conservative candidates to drop the federal government’s costly court appeal and rescinding of its “cruel and unusual” cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFH) — cuts, which inhumanely punish refugees seeking access to heath care.

In spite of the 2014 Federal Court of Canada decision, which decried the cuts as unconstitutional, “cruel and unusual,” the Conservative government continues to fallaciously argue that denying necessary health care to refugees — including children and pregnant women — is good policy, and whose effects are unimpactful, and whose scope, narrow. To date, the Conservatives remain the only major, national party unwilling to restore health coverage for refugees.

“You can give Prime Minister Stephen Harper the benefit of doubt the first time he misinformed Canadians on the consequences of the cuts to refugee health care, but the huge outcry from interested and informed parties and in the press should have caused him to correct his statements,” says St. Michael’s Hospital’s Inner City Health Program Medical Director and CDRC Co-Chair Dr. Philip Berger. “The Prime Minister of Canada has continued to repeat the same untruths, and we can only conclude that he is deliberately trying to deceive the Canadian electorate,” surmised the Toronto-based physician.

While CDRC has documented several examples of refugees being denied important, public health care services, the Conservative’s cuts have also resulted in increased costs to local hospitals and provincial governments — this, while sowing seeds of confusion within the health care system. What’s more, the federal government continues to spend more than $1 million (so far) fighting to preserve the cuts — including by way of its court appeal. Moreso, even after the government was forced to implement a temporary health program for refugees in response to the Federal Court’s decision, privately-sponsored refugees over 18 — including individuals from Syria — are still being denied coverage, including coverage for prescription drugs, psychiatric care and prosthetic limbs.

CDRC’s repeated requests to share its evidence and discuss potential policy resolutions with Chris Alexander, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, have been denied. Senior members of the federal government and its staff’s only response, thus far, has been to personally attack health workers.

“The Conservative government has failed to answer multiple requests for a meeting from the leadership of 20 national health organizations who oppose the cuts, showing a measure of contempt to the health professions rarely seen in Canadian history,” states Medical Director of the Crossroads Clinic at Women’s College Hospital (Toronto) and CDRC Co-Chair Dr. Meb Rashid.

Despite Conservative refusals to meet with organization representatives, CDRC will, throughout its “Week of Reckoning,” join many health care community colleagues in one final attempt to speak with Conservative candidates before Election Day; imploring them to do the right thing: commit to restoring health care services to refugees.

For details on local events, visit doctorsforrefugeecare.ca or facebook.com/RefugeeHealthCare

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Christopher Holcroft, Principal, Empower Consulting:tel: 416-996-0767 • email: [email protected]

-30-

ELECTION2015

HEALTHCARENATIONAL WEEK OF RECKONING • OCT 5 - 9, 2015

ENDCUTSTO

REFUGEE

FIGHT AGAINST CONSERVATIVE CUTS TO REFUGEE HEALTHCARE ENTERS ELECTION WITH DOCTOR-LED “WEEK OF RECKONING”Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care to hold information pickets, visits to Conservative candidate campaign offices to seek commitments to end costly, “cruel and unusual” cuts

SINCE THE FEDERAL CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT CUT SERVICES TO REFUGEE HEALTH CARE MORE THAN THREE YEARS AGO, GOVERNMENT MINISTERS HAVE CONTINUED TO MISREPRESENT THE FACTS ABOUT CUTS TO REFUGEE HEALTH CARE. MOST RECENTLY, PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER HAS, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, INACCURATELY DESCRIBED THE SCOPE OF HIS GOVERNMENT’S CUTS. ALLOW US TO CORRECT THE RECORD.

THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT DID NOT CUT HEALTH COVERAGE TO “BOGUS” REFUGEES, THEY CUT SERVICES TO MOST REFUGEES: TRUE• Since 1957, the federal government has provided basic health coverage to refugees arriving in Canada — many of whom are among the most vulnerable people in the world. At most, refugees received services equivalent to Canadians on social assistance.

• As part of the cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program, all refugees, except government-assisted refugees, lost access to medication coverage, vision, and dental care.

• People from certain countries (known as Designated Countries of Origin), such as Hungary and Mexico, lost all health coverage — including for urgent and essential care, except in cases of public health concerns or issues of public security.

THE CUTS HAVE BEEN A CRUEL POLICY FAILURE: TRUE• The cuts have resulted in many refugees being denied care, including children and pregnant women. Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care has documented many such unacceptable cases.

• In July, 2014, the Federal Court of Canada rejected the government’s arguments and ruled the cuts unconstitutional, referring to them as “cruel and unusual.”

• The cuts and added paperwork have created confusion within the health care system.• In response to the court decision, the government enacted temporary measures to restore health coverage for many refugees, yet it still denies privately sponsored refugees 19 and older – including Syrian refugees – coverage for prescription drugs, psychiatric care, and prosthetic limbs. The government is also appealing the court decision.

TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING UNNECESSARY COSTS AS A RESULT OF THESE CUTS: TRUE• Several published reports note that public hospitals are facing increased costs as a result of refugee patients being forced to seek treatment in expensive emergency rooms because of the cuts to primary care. Provincial governments have echoed this reality.

• It was revealed in Parliament that the Conservative government is spending more than a $1.4 million fighting an appeal of the Federal Court decision.

OPPOSITION TO THE HEALTH CUTS IS WIDESPREAD AND GROWING: TRUE• Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care is joined by more than 20 national health organizations in calling on the Conservative government to reverse the costly, cruel, and reckless health cuts.

• All Premiers representing various political parties have criticized the Conservative’s cuts.• At least two public opinion polls reveal Canadians do not support cutting refugee health care.

ELECTION2015


ENDCUTSTO

REFUGEE

ON CONSERVATIVE PARTY CLAIMS RE: REFUGEE HEALTH CARE

FACTS

ELECTION2015


ENDCUTSTO

REFUGEE

THE HISTORYOn April 25th, 2012, the federal government announced a series of sweeping changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which provides health insurance for refugees in Canada. Immediately after the decision was announced, doctors and health care workers rallied together to protest the cuts, which they feared would leave a vulnerable population without access to essential health services and would cause chaos for healthcare providers. As a result of significant public pressure, the government subsequently announced that government-assisted refugees would not be impacted by the cuts. For all other refugees, the cuts came into effect on June 30th, 2012.The previous IFH program, which had been in place since 1957, provided access to medical care, diagnostic services and laboratory testing that was very similar to what is provided by provincial health plans. It also provided medications, emergency dental care and vision care similar to what is available to people on provincial social assistance plans. THE CONTEXTTo understand the cuts, it is important to recognize the different types of refugees in Canada. Privately sponsored refugees are those who were identified as refugees pre-migration to Canada, while refugee claimants make their claims after arriving in Canada. Of the latter type, there are two categories – those from 42 designated countries of origin (DCO), which the federal Ministry for Citizenship and Immigration believes should not be producing refugees, and those from all other countries.Due to the cuts to the IFHP, all refugees except government-assisted refugees lost access to medication coverage, vision and dental care. Initially, people from DCOs lost all health coverage including for urgent and essential care, except in cases of public health concerns or issues of public security. THE RESULTSAs predicted, many refugees have suffered as a result of the cuts. Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care (CDRC) has documented many cases of people being denied access to necessary health care services including pregnant women and sick children. Various media have also reported shocking examples of very ill patients being denied care because they were not insured by the federal government.At the time of the cuts, CDRC warned that the changes to the IFHP would not yield any cost savings for the government. Restricting access to preventive care leads to repeated emergency room visits and hospitalizations that increase costs to the health system. Again, this prediction has been realized. Media reports have indicated public hospitals are absorbing large, unexpected costs due to the federal cuts to refugee health care. It is estimated that five Toronto-area hospitals alone account for more than $1 million in unexpected costs due to providing necessary health care to refugees who are no longer insured by the federal government. As well, a study released in May of 2014 found that 95% of children presenting at the emergency room of Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto in the six months immediately after the IFH cuts took effect were denied coverage by the federal government.

THE CAMPAIGNHealthcare professionals – from physicians to midwives to pharmacists – continue to call on the federal government to reinstate equitable healthcare coverage for all refugees. In February, 2013, the CDRC became a co-litigant in a Charter challenge to the cuts to the IFHP.

BACKGROUNDERCANADIAN DOCTORS FOR REFUGEE HEALTHCARE


CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE

On June 13, 2013, more than 50 prominent Canadian writers and artists signed a declaration that called on the federal government to reverse its cuts to refugee health care. Among the signatories were authors Dr. Vincent Lam, Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel, actors Shirley Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland, and former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. On June 15, 2015, health care workers staged the fourth National Day of Action with events in cities across the county.Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care is supported by over 20 health care organizations, including: the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Canadian Association of Optometrists, the Canadian Association of Social Workers, the Canadian Dental Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Pharmacists Association, the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, the Canadian Association of Midwives, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Canada, Médecins du Monde, Public Physicians of Canada, Ontario’s Council of Medical Officers of Health, the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and the Dieticians of Canada. Still, the government has refused to meet with any national health care organization on this issue. In October, of 2012, the CDRC submitted a written proposal to then-Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minster Jason Kenney which specifically addressed the federal government’s stated equity concerns while maintaining access to important health care services for refugees. The CDRC received no response to this request. We have also reached out to the current Minister, Chris Alexander for a meeting and even challenged him to a public debate on the facts of the issue, but received no reply.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSOn July 4th, 2014, the Federal Court ruled that the cuts to refugee health care were “cruel and unusual” and therefore unconstitutional. While the Conservative government appeals the decision, they have been forced by the Court to implement Temporary measures for the Interim Federal Health Program. Although the government was forced to restore varying levels of coverage to children, pregnant women, and refugees from DCO countries, these measures do not fully restore the level of coverage that was available to refugees before the original cuts. The future of refugee health care is still in an unsettling uncertainty. Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, Justice for Children and Youth, and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers will fight the federal government’s costly appeal of the Federal Court decision.FACT CHECKThe federal government continues to misrepresent the facts about cuts to refugee health care. Allow us to correct the record.The federal government has only cut health coverage to “bogus” refugees. Fact: As part of the cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program, all refugees except government-assisted refugees lost access to medication coverage, vision and dental care. People from Designated Countries of Origin initially lost all health coverage including for urgent and essential care, except in cases of public health concerns or issues of public security. Some refugee claimants must wait up to four to six weeks for any health care coverage. Therefore to suggest individuals lawfully within our borders and awaiting their hearing, such as a persecuted Roma woman from Hungary or an Afghan woman fleeing after Taliban death threats or a child arriving from a developing country with an infectious disease, are bogus is simply false. Taxpayers are saving money with these cuts. Fact: there is no evidence to support this. In fact, what we do know is that in several published reports, public hospitals were facing increased costs as refugee patients were forced to seek treatment in expensive emergency rooms because of the cuts to primary care for refugees. Provincial governments have echoed this reality.Canadian do not want refugees receiving better health coverage than citizens receive. Fact: Since 1957, the federal government has provided basic health coverage to refugees arriving in Canada, many of whom are among the most vulnerable people in the world. At most, refugees received services equivalent to Canadians on social assistance. A Forum research poll released last year revealed Canadians thought refugees should have more access to health care services, not less.ABOUT CANADIAN DOCTORS FOR REFUGEE CARE Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care is a non-profit organization advocating for refugee health care. The organization is led by a group of non-partisan physicians from across Canada, most of who treat refugees. Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care was formed in the spring of 2012 in response to the federal government’s cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program for refugees.

FURTHER INFORMATIONdoctorsforrefugeecare.ca | facebook.com/RefugeeHealthCare | twitter.com/docs4refugeehc


CONTINUES