Mayor’s weapons of mass diversion
Re Mayor calls for firings in wake of scathing medication fraud report, Oct. 27 Midway through the article about city workers submitting questionable or fraudulent drug claims, Anne-Julie Gratton, of Manulife, spelled the out the problem quite clearly. She explained that drug plan parameters are “set by employers” and that Manulife’s role is to “administer those plans.” In a nutshell, when the city bought its drug plan from its insurance carrier, they bought one of the high-end “anything goes, free-for-all” plans.
Here’s how a responsible deal might work: once a reasonable drug plan has been concluded, the employee/client is provided with an ID card and personal ID number. If, at some point, a written prescription is presented to a pharmacy prior to renewal date, then the prescription would be denied and the doctor who wrote it would be notified (drug insurers do keep these kinds of records). For instance, I take once-a-day, non-addictive, thyroid medication and can’t get a refill until the old one is near finished.
It is wrong for city workers to be taking advantage of this poorly conceived “opiates for all” and “everyone should be having far more sex” drug plan. But it’s far more wrong of those who bought this drug plan. As for Mayor John Tory, his bluster and bravado about firing city workers is silly; his one-stop Scarborough subway affair has him waist deep in political quicksand. The drugs are just his way of deflecting.
There’ll be no firings; no employer would ever allow itself to become soiled by the potential back-spray that could come from all this. Jack Drury, Toronto
One cannot but be impressed with Mayor Tory as he wages his battle on behalf of taxpayers and calls for the firing of city workers who billed their medical plan for drugs like Viagra.
The mayor put it so well when he said that this cannot be permitted as “we’re trustees of the public’s money.” Indeed and should not this attitude prevail when it is not a million dollars but over a billion dollars of the taxpayer’s hard earned money that is being squandered?
The deceit that has gone on — as revealed once again by solid investigative reporting by this newspaper — in regards to the Scarborough subway city council vote is practically criminal when it comes to abuse of the taxpayer. Sadly the list of those responsible features this very same mayor.
Maybe Mayor Tory will head a committee on behalf of taxpayers to fire himself. In the meantime, our wonderful library system in once again being threatened by cutbacks — on behalf of the taxpayers to be sure. Simon Rosenblum, Toronto