Medicare For Autism Now

In the world of parental activism and efforts to get access to autism treatment for children who need it, one of the outstanding efforts was initiated 20 years ...ago by a group of families in Ontario who called themselves "Friends of Children with Autism". The families launched a lawsuit against the provincial government which came to be known as the "Deskin/Wynberg" case. It all started with the Deskin case which was filed in 1999, followed by Wynberg in 2000, and eventually encompassed 28 families. For many members of the autism community in Ontario at the time this case gave us hope. On March 30, 2005, Madam Justice Kiteley of the Ontario Supreme Court issued her decision in favour of the families. If you can get a copy of the decision it is a fascinating account of the origins of the Ontario Preschool Autism Program, the discrimination in the system, and the history of that time. The court had effectively ordered Premier Dalton McGuinty to do what he had promised to do during the 2003 election and remove the discriminatory age six cut-off from the program. However, McGuinty's government immediately appealed the decision. Eventually the Ontario Court of Appeal sided with the Government and overturned the lower court decision. The families tried to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada but that court turned down the application to appeal the case. Those families who took the battle for autism treatment to the courts are heroes and should be recognized in an "Autism Justice Hall of Fame" or something. But who knows about them and remembers them these days? I do, and so do a lot of other parents who were cheering for them at the time. For more information on the history and milestones of autism lobbying over the past 20 years, check out "The Fight for Autism Treatment in Canada" (available on amazon).

Since the Ontario government announced in February 2019 its "revamping" of the autism treatment program the autism community in the province has vigorously demo...nstrated its opposition to the proposed changes and has endured months of consultations and uncertainty as the government prolongs the reform process. Déjà Vu or what? Attached is an article about the "chaos" the provincial Auditor General found in the autism treatment program...in 2004! Just wondering...under Medicare (Canada's universal public health insurance healthcare system), what other medical conditions are so consistent poorly managed for such long periods with no end in sight? Yes, there are wait times to see a specialist and to have certain surgeries and other medical procedures performed, but what other medical-condition "Society" has ever demanded that their treatment program be improved by transferring it from the Department of Health to the same Department that administers welfare and ceasing to provide Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage? If the Minister and Department of Social Services can't resolve the crisis in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the majority of the autism community, would it not be time to transfer the program to the Department of Health and see what the OHIP administrators could do? For one thing, it would enable access to federal funds from the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and any other federal funds received through negotiated "Health Accords". For more background on the history of lobbying for improved access to autism treatment, see "The Fight for Autism Treatment in Canada" (amazon).

During the period when I was protesting for a National Autism Strategy on Parliament Hill during my daily lunch hours I had the good fortune to connect with fel...low parent Brenda Deskin. She produced this wonderful two-sided autism pamphlet about the need for a "Canadian Federal Autism Strategy" which I carried with me, along with my petition clipboard, in case any politicians, journalists or tourists were interested in more information. Thank you Brenda! For more information about the previous two decades of lobbying for improved access to autism treatment, see the book "The Fight for Autism Treatment in Canada - Reflections of a Parent Activist" (on amazon). See more

In the world of politicians who say one thing and do another, the record of former federal Cabinet Minister and current opposition MP Pierre Poilievre regarding... the autism file ranks up there with the most disappointing examples of political flip flops. When Pierre Poilievre was first elected to Parliament in 2004 and was a member of the opposition he showed great interest in the autism issue and the struggle to get improved access to treatment. The autism community sought his support and provided him with an education on the issues. He came and spoke at our rallies (I have a picture of him speaking while holding my megaphone at one event). He spoke at our press conferences (I have a picture of that too). He argued that it made sense to invest in treatment for newly-diagnosed kids. The autism community was thrilled when he had an op-ed published in The Hill Times on March 21, 2005 titled Birth of a child shouldn’t become healthcare roulette: exclusion of autism treatment from Canada’s medicare. It seemed that our community found a political ally. The piece he had published was beautiful. You have to read it to believe it. Among other things, he spelled out in black and white that federal government leadership was necessary to develop a national medicare strategy to solve the autism healthcare crisis and he specifically identified what legislative action he claimed was necessary. Wow. His party then won the election of 2006 and and this time an opposition MP tabled a Bill in Parliament which not only proposed to do what Pierre Poilievre had previously declared what the federal government must do to stop the discrimination against autism treatment in Medicare, the Bill also required the federal Minister of Health to work with the provinces to develop a National Autism Strategy. On 21 February 2007 Bill C-304 was voted on at second reading in the House of Commons and Pierre Poilievre and Conservatives voted along with the Bloc to kill the bill. For more instances of political flip flops regarding autism policies, see the book The Fight for Autism Treatment in Canada Reflections of a Parent Activist (available on amazon).

Autism is a profound disability

Important history!

This is why we need Medicare for ABA