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On the first point, the minister talks about Ontarians paying “the right amount” for physicians’ services. How much is that? Clearly less than the right amount last year. This move is not about finding some “right” amount to pay doctors, it’s about helping to eliminate the province’s projected $12.5 billion deficit.

Tackling that deficit is a worthy and essential goal, but it’s difficult to believe that Ontario’s current health care system is sustainable when we have to cut people’s pay to keep it afloat. That’s not a long-term strategy.

The government says it is paying 61 per cent more for physicians’ services than it was a decade ago. That’s not doctors’ fault. Those increased costs are ones agreed to by the government in previous contract negotiations. The cost has also been pushed up by a government plan to have family doctors practice in teams. Expensive incentives were put in place to encourage that method of practice. Some of those incentives are now being taken away.

While we, as patients, might not care that doctors will be paid somewhat less, we do care about having enough doctors to meet our health needs. That’s already spotty, with 900,000 Ontarians not having a doctor at all.

The spending limit imposed by the government could further limit our access to doctors in two ways.

The government says it will not allow any new family doctors to join those popular health teams in areas that it describes as well served. In effect, this means reducing the number of new family doctors in Ontario cities, where the population growth is. Doctors who will graduate in June and were planning to join urban family health teams won’t be allowed to take those jobs now, the OMA says.