Post-surgical physiotherapy coverage for patients renewed, not expanded By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2023

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/04/2023 (880 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party made a solemn pledge during the 2016 provincial election campaign: it would not cut front-line services in a rush to balance the books.

It committed instead to carefully managing costs over time and eliminating the provincial deficit — which had ballooned to nearly $1 billion under the previous NDP government — within eight years.

It was a responsible position which, had the Tories stuck to it after winning government that year, would have struck the right balance between fiscal responsibility and the need to provide Manitobans with vital front-line services. But a year later, in an overzealous attempt to return to the black earlier than previously planned, the PC government began cutting the very services it promised Manitobans it would protect.

Those austerity measures hit health care the hardest. Kelvin Goertzen, Manitoba’s health minister at the time, announced in 2017 the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority would be required to find $83 million in “efficiencies” — code word for cuts to hospital services.

Kelvin Goertzen, Manitoba’s health minister at the time, announced in 2017 the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority would be required to find $83 million in “efficiencies” – code word for cuts to hospital services.

Among the rollbacks: the elimination of out-patient physiotherapy for joint replacement surgery. Post-operative rehabilitation was de-insured. Manitobans recovering from procedures such as hip and knee replacement surgery would have to pay out-of-pocket for physiotherapy, unless they had private insurance to cover the cost.

Those who couldn’t afford it had to do without.

The Tories broke their election promise, and thousands of patients paid a steep price.

Last week the Stefanson government announced plans to restore physiotherapy coverage for post-surgical patients. However, it didn’t characterize the move as a reversal of the cuts made six years ago; instead, Health Minister Audrey Gordon is calling it an “expansion” of health-care services.

Province expands post-surgery outpatient hip, knee physiotherapy access

The minister said the province is spending $2.5 million “to help patients access the care they need now as the Manitoba government expands capacity and builds a more resilient public health system for the future.”

In reality, the Tories are simply restoring what they cut in 2017. It’s an admission that the decision made six years ago was a mistake, and a very costly one. Not only did thousands of surgical patients have to pay directly for the service, some were deprived of rehabilitative therapy because they couldn’t afford it.

Without professional physiotherapy, post-surgical patients are at risk of long-term problems, including the possibility of not regaining full mobility. Government can’t erase the harm that has caused.

Meanwhile, there are unanswered questions about how physiotherapy services will be provided under the new system. Prior to 2017, outpatient physiotherapy was provided by hospital staff. Under the new system, eligible patients will be able to receive services from any private physiotherapist, the cost of which will be covered by Manitoba Health.

(The province began by contracting with three physiotherapy providers in December, which has been expanded to all physiotherapists as of April 1). That is not necessarily a bad thing; patients will have more choice and may be able to access services closer to home.

However, there are questions about the amount of coverage government plans to provide — six individual physiotherapy sessions — and whether it is enough. Not every patient has the same needs. Elderly patients, for example, usually require more post-operative care than younger ones. The health-care system should provide patients with the therapy they need to fully recover, not limit care through an arbitrary cap.

Restoring physiotherapy as an insured service is long overdue. And, to be clear, it’s a restoration of a service, not an expansion. And last week’s announcement does not make up for six years of cuts to a vital medical service.