Are all children equal in medical offices or on the floors of hospitals in Quebec? This is the $40,000 question that migrant parents had to ask themselves after their baby’s stay in intensive care. The answer, however, is extremely simple. Above all, it is light years away from this colossal bill, the fair price for all being, since 2021, zero, niet, nada.
The misunderstanding recounted by The duty is not anecdotal. Many MPs whose constituency offices have been called upon to defend the causes of those who have been called “RAMQ babies”. “I have an attaché who does pretty much just that,” said solidarity worker Vincent Marissal.
The pressure on elected officials is felt as far as Ottawa, where the list of grievances submitted by migrants goes well beyond the question of child care. Overwhelmed by the scale of the requests, the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, even said that he was considering reestablishing the telephone line dedicated to MPs who try to help them.
This disorganization ends up percolating to caregivers. Exasperated doctors thus resigned themselves to paying out of their own pockets for care for children that they considered essential. The problem is growing, according to what the organization Médecins du Monde and its partners in the field are observing.
However, providing care at such foundational ages as early childhood, childhood and adolescence is imperative. As proof, the National Assembly unanimously adopted, in 2021, a law granting children from families with precarious migration status unconditional access (other than being present in the territory for more than six months to cut it short). to any form of medical tourism) to health insurance and drug insurance plans.
It must be said that reports recommending such protection were piling up on the shelves of the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). At this tender age, one ailment can quickly worsen, feed others and delay, or even slow down, development. Abstaining or delaying consultation also costs more prosaically, and not just for providers, but for the entire care chain.
Offered regardless of the place of birth or the migratory status of the parents, this providential coverage, when it works, works with the fire of God. It has benefited no less than 18,928 children since 2021. However, we discover that this protection applauded in the House has not been diligently monitored.
There were no clear directives issued immediately by the MSSS or the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ). No restrictive measures have been planned in the event that it is necessary to listen to disorganized or poorly informed establishments. The opposition was right to get carried away.
Such a simple program cannot fail and lose patients after two years. The Minister of Health took note of this. On Wednesday, his cabinet agreed that “the law must be applied everywhere”. Checks will be made “wherever deemed necessary,” he added.
Minister Christian Dubé should take the opportunity to remind everyone of another issue inextricably linked to this one, namely that of care offered to pregnant women without status. We know that the health of the mother is closely linked to that of the unborn baby. There have been studies, all favorable, to a concrete covering for expectant mothers.
We know perfectly well how to prevent our generosity from turning into a helping hand when shopping for obstetric care at a discount. The path to follow is clear and documented, notably by the RAMQ; all that remains is to decide on the matter, which is taking unduly long here too.
We would like to believe that a little ministerial slap on the wrist could be enough to right the wrongs. But the list of excellent programs launched by the CAQ government only to be abandoned to their fate without follow-up or effort is growing. Let us just think of the failure of the Act Early program, renamed “Act Late” or “Act Half” by a disillusioned community as a result of fighting against government inertia.
The same goes for screening for deafness at birth. If he does not have paternity, the Legault government has committed to doing everything possible to achieve its implementation “in all places of birth”, and this, “by the end of the “year 2021”, after a unanimous motion in the National Assembly. As of May 31, only 61% of babies had access to this test.
The question that arises is the following: what can a law do in the face of the disorganization of a network? Apparently the answer is too little. Here we have a law that is not always applied in its spirit and in its letter, so that children and their families suffer. Either way, Christian Dubé has his hands full with his refoundation. But being busy elsewhere does not relieve him of the responsibility to see that what is expected is accomplished with rigor, diligence and universality throughout Quebec.
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