Ontario’s worker compensation board is saving money by reducing spending on drug benefits for workplace accident victims and by providing financial incentives to their health-care providers to limit treatment time, a new report compiled by a Toronto-based legal clinic says. The study released Wednesday, which is based on a series of freedom of information requests to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, says there has been “a significant cut in prescription drug benefits that affects thousands of injured workers per year” since a cost-cutting drive initiated at the board in 2010. It also found a shift toward “services that are structured to drive down the cost of benefits paid to injured workers.”“For injured workers, the WSIB’s historic ‘transformation’ has resulted in substantial, harmful cuts to health-care benefits,” says the report, which was conducted by the Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO) and Toronto lawyer and worker compensation specialist Antony Singleton.“Injured workers need to be able to trust WSIB to provide the health care they need, but this report shows that the WSIB is abusing that trust and unfairly reducing claims costs at the expense of workers’ health,” said Jessica Ponting, a community legal worker with IAVGO. Since 2010, the WSIB has sought to reduce its $14 billion unfunded liability, but maintains that health outcomes are improving amongst injured workers. When it comes to health benefits, it says the falling price of drugs and a board-wide strategy to limit the prescription of harmful narcotics has saved money.WSIB has responded to past criticisms of its health services, including a formal complaint to Ontario’s ombudsman by injured worker advocates, by saying it has “confidence in the integrity of Ontario’s health-care professionals” and that it “acts quickly to ensure workers receive ...
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