after a pair of retinal detachments in the same eye and two surgeries, james taggart has been living with impaired vision for half a year.
“being one-eyed has not been fun since last march,” he said.
the 66-year-old retired economist from ottawa has another surgery scheduled this month — he hopes it will be his last. “in the months after (the surgery) i’ll get some function in my eye, but it will never be 20/20. i’m going to have to have an eye exam probably in a few months,” he said.
but right now, he and 800,000 other ontarians, according to the ontario association of optometrists, can’t get appointments for eye exams due to a dispute between the province’s optometrists and the health ministry — and that dispute appears to be stagnant, with no movement on either side for nearly three months.
the dispute causing the service interruption has its roots in a decades-old problem, according to dr. sheldon salaba, the president of the oao. in 1989, the ontario government paid optometrists $39.15 for an eye exam under ohip — ontario’s health-care plan. ohip covers exams for children up to age 18, seniors 65 and older, and persons with disabilities and some medical conditions.
but today, the government only pays, on average, $44.65 for the same eye exam, about half of what optometrists it is worth.