Ontario Seeking Feedback on New Rules for Health Sector Payments

New Regulations Will Require Medical Industry to Disclose Payments, Improve Transparency

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Ontario is asking for public input on how to make the payments heath care professionals and organizations get from drug and medical device companies more transparent.

New legislation passed by the province requires the medical industry and other payors to report all transfers of value, including payments, benefits, and gifts, that are at or above a minimum amount and are provided to certain health care professionals or organizations. The information will be provided to the province and will be posted publicly online.

Requiring payors to disclose this information will help patients make informed decisions about their health care.

The regulations would include:

  • Recipients whose transfers of value must be reported
  • A minimum dollar amount (e.g. $10) above which a payor must report a transfer of value.
  • The manner and frequency of reporting.

Feedback will inform the regulation-making process and help government increase transparency and accountability within Ontario’s health care system. Regulatory proposals will be posted to Ontario’s Regulatory Registry for comment until April 6th.

Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

Quick Facts

  • Ontario is the first Canadian province or territory to legislate mandatory disclosure of private sector payments to health professionals and organizations.
  • In the United States, Australia and some European countries, patients can go online to determine how much money their health care providers have received from pharmaceutical companies.
  • Ontario’s legislation defines a transfer of value as a transfer of any kind and includes payments, benefits, gifts, advantage, perquisite or any other prescribed benefit.