Caught between death and debts
Federal cutbacks to refugee health program mean some no longer entitled to free treatment
Israel Sosa’s deportation has been put on hold as the 50-year-old battles colon cancer.
The failed refugee claimant from the Dominican Republic has been allowed to stay in Canada on humanitarian grounds for now — but he has been banned from getting treatment under Ottawa’s Interim Federal Health (IFH) Program for refugees.
The Toronto man could choose to delay treatment and face death — or go into debt paying his medical costs.
That’s the new reality for asylum seekers from the so-called “safe countries” — ones such as Mexico and the Czech Republic, which are deemed democratic countries capable of state protection — as well as failed refugee claimants.
They are no longer eligible for government health care as of last June, unless they put public health at risk. The old program covered them for emergency and basic health care, similar to what is included with OHIP.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has said these are not legitimate refugees and taxpayers should not be held accountable for their care. The cuts are expected to save Ottawa $100 million over five years.
“It is very important to distinguish between a refugee, an asylum claimant and a failed asylum claimant. Canadians have been clear that they do not want illegal immigrants and bogus refugee claimants receiving free, gold-plated health-care benefits,” Alexis Pavlich, Kenney’s press secretary, told the Star.
However, critics say the federal government cannot just sit back and watch these patients suffer as resource-stretched hospitals demand prepayments for medical procedures and tests.
Two national organizations made up of physicians and lawyers are suing Ottawa, arguing the health cuts are unconstitutional and illegal under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The case is expected to be heard in a year.
“People with severe medical conditions are being put at risk. They are suffering unnecessarily for the saving of a pittance,” said Lorne Waldman, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers. AN AIRPORT SERVICE AGENT, Sosa came to Canada in 2007 and filed a refugee claim the following year. His case was denied in 2011.
Early last year, he was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and received chemotherapy and radiation at Sunnybrook hospital. The cancer was deemed “medically irremovable,” and Sosa’s deportation was put on hold.
Despite the treatment, Sosa needed surgery at Humber River Hospital in October, three months after Ottawa terminated his health care. Although a community clinic found the money for his operation, he was responsible for the $32,000 postsurgery hospitalization — a debt he still owes and money the hospital is unlikely to recoup.
“My medical condition was detected before the health cuts, they can’t just leave me,” said Sosa, whose Canadian wife is sponsoring him to remain here as a permanent resident.
Without the aid of the health program, single mother Svetlana Muller, a failed refugee from Estonia, waited four days to take her daughter, Joanna, 10, to see a doctor for a fractured right foot she sustained in January.
Their family doctor referred them to the emergency room of Toronto East General Hospital on Feb. 4. Muller, who runs a home daycare centre, was later billed $136 for the visit and decided to cancel Joanna’s follow-up appointment on Feb. 27.
“We have to pay for the crutches and everything because we are no longer covered by the IFH. We just don’t have the money,” said Muller, whose asylum claim was denied a year ago. A pre-removal risk assessment is still underway.
While the medical cost for Joanna was relatively little, Edwin Naula Alvarracin needs operations on his vertebrae that would cost taxpayers a whopping $210,000.
Alvarracin, a failed refugee from Ecuador who suffers from severe kyphoscoliosis, can’t sit for more than 10 minutes or stand for three minutes, according to his medical report.
The 32-year-old waited months to see a specialist. In October, a doctor at Toronto Western Hospital told him three staged surgeries could correct 70 per cent of his problem and alleviate his pain, but he’s no longer covered by the IFH. (The surgical treatment is not available in Ecuador.) When asked why Canadians should pay for his surgeries, Alvarracin lowered his head and said, “I came to Canada because I believed Canada was a humanitarian country where everybody was treated equal and fair. But the reality is a bit different.” Eduardo Ruiz died of an advanced lymphoma in his stomach Feb. 25. His wife, Vladimira Gallo, said his treatment was delayed because the University Health Network admin- istration had to figure out the amount of the family’s prepayment —$44,430. Unlike the others, Ruiz came to Toronto from Costa Rica as a visitor in 2004 and lived under the radar. As a result, he was never covered by the government’s health plan. However, Gallo, who was born and raised in Canada, said access to health care is a basic right. Ruiz’s fate could be that of any refugee claimant from Ottawa’s designated safe, democratic countries, as they do not qualify for health coverage even when their asylum claims are in process.
“A piece of immigration paper does not tell us who we are. We all have the right to live,” said Gallo, who is left with the couple’s 9month-old daughter, Selina. “For these people, money is more important than saving a man’s life.”