Attention News Editors:

Ending OHIP coverage of chiropractic care will further clog hospitals and hike health care costs: Report

    TORONTO, Sept. 20 /CNW/ - If the McGuinty government proceeds with plans
to end coverage of chiropractic care as part of Ontario's public health care
plan, patient visits to family doctors and hospital emergency rooms will
increase by hundreds of thousands, and this will incur millions of dollars in
new health care costs.
    Those are the conclusions of a new report by a respected consulting firm,
released today at Queen's Park.
    Key projections by Deloitte Inc. National Health Services Consulting on
the impacts of removing funding for chiropractic care from OHIP include:

    -   Chiropractic patients who turn instead to family doctors is estimated
        to increase from 558,000 to 1,170,000 visits (1.3% to 2.6% increase),
        and to hospital emergency rooms from 382,000 to 754,000 visits (7% to
        14% increase).

    -   Increased costs to the health care budget range from a minimum of
        $12 million to an estimated maximum of $125 million per year in net
        costs, as former chiropractic patients seek more expensive (and fully
        OHIP-insured) care from family doctors, walk-in clinics and emergency
        rooms.

    "The facts of funding cuts are clear," said Dr. Dean Wright, President of
the Ontario Chiropractic Association (OCA).
    "If the government goes ahead with its short-sighted plan, our already
overloaded family doctors and emergency rooms become even more crowded. The
removal of services from OHIP will add millions of dollars to the burden on
the health care budget. Furthermore, it will be completely at odds with the
province's stated goal of transforming the health care system from hospital-
based care to community-based, multi-disciplinary health care service
delivery," added Dr. Wright.
    "It doesn't make any sense, but it's not too late. With $1.2 billion more
coming to Ontario each year under last week's First Minister's Agreement on
Health Care, Premier McGuinty can still do the right thing, cancel the cuts,
and ensure that patients will continue to get effective, affordable care for
back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions," said Dr. Wright.
    The OCA has released this report as part of its ongoing campaign to give
voice to the 1.2 million chiropractic patients in Ontario who depend on
chiropractic care and want the McGuinty government to maintain public funding.
The campaign includes an ongoing petition and letter writing campaign and
efforts to keep this issue high on the agenda when the legislature resumes in
the fall. Currently, the Ontario government provides $100 million of funding
for chiropractic procedures. This number represents just one third of one
percent of the overall health services budget.
    Founded in 1929, the Ontario Chiropractic Association represents the
professional interests of more than 2,500 Ontario chiropractors. Chiropractic
is a regulated health care profession recognized by statute in all Canadian
provinces, and is one of the largest primary contact health care professions
in Canada. Over 1.2 million patients in Ontario rely on chiropractic care
every year to allow them to function - to deal with problems such as acute low-
back pain, neck pain and headaches. Chiropractors provide diagnosis,
treatment, and prevention of disorders related to the spine, nervous system,
and joints.


                  IMPACT OF DELISTING CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES
                       FINAL REPORT - SEPTEMBER, 2004
             Deloitte Inc. - National Health Services Consulting

                               KEY CONCLUSIONS

    Cancelling funding for chiropractic care under OHIP will have an impact
on the Ontario's public health care system including:

    -   Reduced access and longer wait times resulting from off-loading of
        patients from chiropractors to already scarce and over-burdened
        physicians.

    -   Higher costs, resulting from the substitution of higher-priced
        physician services and higher use/incidence of hospital services.

    -   A directional shift away from the government's transformation and
        integration agenda, as chiropractors are further marginalized from
        the healthcare delivery system.

    Delisting of chiropractic services could:

    -   Increase the number of visits to family physicians by between 588,000
        and 1,170,000 visits per year, an increase of 1.3% to 2.6%.

    -   Increase the number of visits to emergency departments by between
        382,000 and 754,000 visits per year, representing an additional 7% to
        14% increase in total number of visits.

    -   The cost impact of delisting will, at best, be approximately
        $12 million, and, at worst, be $125 million.

    Rationale for maintaining chiropractic under OHIP coverage:

    -   Chiropractic care has been demonstrated to be cost-effective for
        lower back disorders; numerous studies have estimated that
        chiropractic services are between one-quarter to one-half of the
        costs for comparable medical services.

    -   Chiropractic care provides a cost-effective alternative to comparable
        medical care. Maintaining funding for chiropractic services is
        estimated to have a positive economic impact on health care costs.

    -   Collaboration and integrating chiropractic services into multi-
        disciplinary teams and Primary Care Renewal will bring the benefits
        of chiropractic care, improved access, appropriate clinical care and
        cost-effective care, into the transformation of the health care
        system.

For further information: or an interview with Dr. Wright contact: Janet 
Blanchard-Conn, Manager, Communications, Ontario Chiropractic Association, 
(905) 629-8211 ext. 33 (office), 416-886-7379 (cell)