Liam Reid’s family has struggled to pay for his care at a U.S. hospital while another boy with the same rare eye condition has received 49 treatments paid for by the Ontario government.

If Liam, nearly 3, does not receive surgery to correct the vision in his left eye, he will go blind before he is 4 years old, said his mother, Kristina Reid. Liam has a retinal condition called advanced bilateral persistent fetal vasculature syndrome or Norrie disease.

“With only two kids in Ontario with this, how can one be funded and Liam not?” Reid asked. “The out-of-country funding process needs to be investigated.”

So far, the Reids have spent $45,000 for Liam’s care by Dr. Michael Trese at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mi. Trese performed surgery on his left eye, giving Reid some vision — he can see light and form. The other boy has also been treated in Michigan.

However, what the Ontario Health Insurance Plan pays for in out-of-country expenses has been curtailed in the last few years as the Health Ministry tries to cut costs and deliver treatment here, said Health Minister Deb Matthews in an interview.

“We want everybody to get the care they need. We have a very generous out-of-country program, but there are parameters around that. I spoke to the family on Thursday and I promised them I would go through the case and get my officials to make sure every step was properly followed,” she said.

Matthews, a grandmother, said her heart goes out to the family, but she cannot intervene in one case: “I can’t pick and chose.”

Surgeons at the Hospital for Sick Children were unsuccessful in treating Liam’s right eye in 2009 and they support his return to Michigan, Reid said.

Reid’s treatment costs are high because after the surgery, follow-up appointments are needed to make sure the retina has not detached, she said. And, he must be placed under general anesthetic in order to be examined.

The Reids found out about the other boy’s 49 paid-for out-of-country treatments since 2002 via a freedom of information request.

After attending question period at Queen’s Park Thursday in a last-ditch effort to get Matthews to intervene, Reid noted the sad parallel between money needed to pay for her son’s medical care and the ORNGE scandal.

“They’ve lost funds through the ORNGE debacle and are they trying to save money elsewhere? This is coming out of people’s needed health care.”

An all-party legislative committee has been investigating the air ambulance system for months, trying to figure out how a $150 million-a-year publicly funded agency went off the rails and is now subject to an Ontario Provincial Police probe over questionable contracts.