Ontario pays for 19 abortions in the US at $17,382/abortion

Further to my previous post on Ontario's out of country abortion numbers of 2023-2024, I now have the cost of these abortions.

Ontario sent 19 women to the United States and OHIP pre-approved these abortions to the tune of $229,995US or about $327,608.28 Canadian. That is $12,205US or about $17,381.58 Canadian per abortion.

My guess is that because of the high cost of these abortions, and the fact that they were all done in the US, is that they are most probably third trimester abortions. See this:

'third‐trimester abortions cost much more: they range in cost from a few thousand dollars to over $25,000, depending on gestation and clinical complexity.'

 

Don't let the pro-abortions tell you that Canada isn't committing very late term/third trimester abortions. Because they do. In this case at least, we just did it in the United States. Oh. And those 19 out of country abortions? That's only from one province. How many are being done in the rest of Canada?

How can we discuss abortion when we don't have data?

If you Google "how many abortions are done in Ontario each year?" the first link that comes up is a four page chart by pro-abortion Joyce Arthur.

So what does this chart reveal? It reveals there is a lot we don't know about Canadian abortion statistics in general, and Ontario abortion statistics in particular. Of course we already knew this right?

What is interesting about Arthur's charts is that she makes a lot of assumptions about the rate of abortion in Ontario. Which is fair; I always have to do the same. Because when you try and discuss anything without accurate data, you have to make assumptions--you have no choice.

I won't get into why I disagree with Arthur's assumptions, as I've already done that many times before, but right now, that isn't the point. Right now the point is that if you're trying to have a meaningful conversation about anything, never mind about something with as many political, social, and financial repercussions as abortion--well it's all kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

How can she and I even talk about the data and what it means, when we don't even have the data?

In fact, in Arthur's four page analysis, she devotes quite a bit of space to the assumptions she makes about Canada's statistics, including Ontario's abortion numbers based on my freedom of information requests for 2010, the last year we have decent Ontario abortion data. And she has to make assumptions. We all do, because our data is hidden at the whim of a government who did it for political reasons. A non-accountable, non-transparent, non-open government.

As a pro-life person, how can I meaningfully refute Joyce Arthur's assertions that abortions in Ontario are going down when I can't see the data? If someone out there in google land searches for Ontario abortion numbers in Ontario, they may think rates are going up, or that abortion rates are going down, depending on whose information they read. 

If abortions are really going down, or if they're really going up, and we know which, there would be no need to speculate or assume. All of us could then meaningfully comment on the facts we see, and then we could meaningfully discuss the implications of that reality.

This is why our Charter case is so very important.

If I was still able to get abortion information through freedom of information requests (based on OHIP billings), I would be able to tell you AND the pro-abortions the following facts about abortions in Ontario:

• How many abortions are done in doctor's offices
• How many medical abortions there are
• How many fetal reductions there are
• The total number of all clinic abortions
• Gestational age (weeks) of abortions done in clinics
• Gestational age (weeks) for the large "unknown" figure for hospital abortions
• Information on the method of abortion for clinic data
• The costs of abortion to the citizens of Ontario

And then I could meaningfully comment on the implications of these facts. Now I am only left guessing. And so is Joyce Arthur. 

Fixed toes would not be hidden under FIPPA

So this is what I don't understand. Why does Ontario health insurance pay to kill an unborn baby, but won't pay for a medically necessary operation on my toe? It cost me $900 to have an ingrown toenail surgically fixed. Luckily I have private insurance that will help with part of the cost.

Now we're not talking about cosmetic surgery here. And yes is was elective if you consider I could continue not having my toe fixed and put up with the pain every time I put on my shoe like I have for the past year. Sure you could call that elective surgery. If you must.

But if I were to have an abortion, well that would be fully funded. I could have one any time I want. And I could have as many abortions as I want too. None of them (or nearly none of them), medically necessary, all paid for courtesy of OHIP. Or should I say, courtesy the Ontario taxpayer.

And you know what else bugs me? If OHIP did cover the cost to fix my toe, well then, I would be able to find out how many Ontario toes are fixed each year, and how much those toes cost the taxpayer. I would simply do a freedom of information request. But I can't get the same information about abortions.

How's that for open, transparent and accountable government?

Revised 2010 Ontario abortions tell a sad tale

We know that CIHI recently released their 2010 abortion statistics.

Absent from the statistics were the number of abortions from Quebec.

So I asked CIHI why there was no data for Quebec, CIHI told me that:

"We receive Quebec hospital and clinic abortion data directly from the Quebec ministry (hospitals, but not clinics, are mandated to collect it). It reflects all induced abortions for patients covered by the province’s health insurance plan. As per my earlier note, we are currently working with the ministry to obtain this data."

I also asked for clarification on clinic data and which provinces accurately report clinic data. This is what CIHI told me:

"AB, MB, NL and NB have reported comprehensive clinic data. As stated in the footnotes for the published tables, BC, ON, QC have not reported comprehensive clinic data. There are no clinics in SK, NS, PEI or the territories."

Regarding hospital data CIHI confirmed that all provinces and territories:

"voluntarily participate in the DAD database. The data is collected through a secure electronic data electronic submission service."

Finally, now that we know the 2010 CIHI numbers, I was able to more accurately compare the 2010 Ontario numbers for Ontario, with the data I received from 2010 OHIP billing records.

These OHIP billing records reported that there were at least 43,997 abortions in Ontario in 2010. Plus there were 94 medical abortions in Ontario for 2010, for a new total of at least 44,091 abortions committed in Ontario in 2010.

CIHI is reporting only 28,765 abortions in Ontario for 2010.

This means that Ontario abortion statistics based on OHIP billings are higher by 53.3% than CIHI's numbers. This is much worse than what my last estimate reported, which was higher by 45.4% (I originallyy reported this as being 31% higher but that calculation was in error).

So while we're at it, let's multiply that 44,091 number of Ontario abortions for 2010 by a more realistic total cost for an abortion, which is $1,600.

(UPDATE January 15, 2017: The article linked to above is no longer on line anymore but here is the text of what it said: 

"By Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal, Published: Tuesday, October 11 2011...Cholewa says her clinic would likely bill AHS [Alberta Health services] somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1,600 for each procedure - about the same fee it charges the province to terminate a pregnancy." emphasis added

That's at least $70,545,600 Ontario taxpayers spent killing their unborn children in 2010.

More abortion statistics for Ontario for 2009 and 2010

Further to my last Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term care, I recently submitted another FOI. I had not asked for this service code in my last FOI.

I asked for:
"How many claims, and how many dollars, did physicians bill for, for medical management of termination of pregnancy, that is, service code A920 with diagnostic code 635, broken down by hospitals, clinics, and physicians' office, in each of 2009 and 2010?"

This is what I learned:

In 2009 under diagnostic code 635 (Therapeutic abortion) there were 82 abortions done at a cost of $10,797.64. In 2010 under this same code, there were 94 abortions done at a cost of $11,538.52.

In 2009 under diagnostic code 895 (Family planning, contraceptive advice, advice on sterilization or abortion) there were 221 services done at a cost of $30,321.20. In 2010 there were 261 services done at a cost of $35,809.20.

In 2009 under code NA (Non-specific diagnostic code) there were 88 services done at a cost of $12,032.44. In 2010 there were 102 services done at a cost of $13,912.08. 

There was also a diagnostic code for which I received information, that confused me. I have asked the Ministry to clarify it before I report on it.

Ontario abortion doctors very busy in 2010

I recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term care for 2010 abortion OHIP billing information. This is what I asked for:

1) How many procedures, and how many dollars, were billed for all abortion clinics in Ontario, for each of the following codes:

S752, S785, P053, P054, S770, S783

2) How many procedures, and how many dollars, were billed for all private physicians' offices in Ontario, for each of the following codes:

S752, S785, P053, P054, S770, S783

3) How many procedures, and how many dollars, were billed for all hospitals in Ontario, for each of the following codes:

S752, S785, P053, P054, S770, S783

(Procedure descriptions here and here and are also included in my graph below. The graph also contains a compilation of the statistics that I received from the Ministry.)

There were 77 selective fetal reduction procedures done in Ontario in 2010.

There were at least 43,997 procedures performed in 2010 in Ontario for a base cost of $5,470,562.36.

(Note: this is only what doctors billed for. See Ministry notes 2 and 3 below regarding costs. Therefore this base cost does not appear to reflect the total cost of an abortion to the taxpayer, which has been estimated at an average cost of about $800/abortion)

CIHI had reported that in 2009, there were 30,268 abortions in Ontario; that in 2008 there were 32,150 abortions, and in 2007, 32,331abortions.

We have suspected that CIHI/Statistics Canada abortions have been under reported. These 2010 figures from these OHIP billings, are actually about 45.4% (my original entry reported this at 31%, which is incorrect) higher than the CIHI figures for 2009 and seems to confirm that abortions are being under reported in Ontario.

(The following three notes were included in the response I received back from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term care for this 2010 abortion OHIP billing information.)

(1) The total procedures corresponds solely to the volumes of these procedures as per listed fee schedule codes.

(2) The total billed is based on the billed amount submitted on the claim and does not necessarily represent what was approved and paid for the claim (emphasis included). For example facility fees for specific TA clinics are not included in the fee billed total. The total billed measure includes billed amounts for the professional component volumes as well as the anaesthesia and/or surgical assist components where applicable.

(3) Both fee-for-service as well as globally funded claims were included and restricted to Ontario physicians, in-province claims only. Any potential out-of-province, out-of-country claims were not included.

Note: On May 4, 2012, I corrected an error I made in this blog entry in the percentage calculation above. I reported OHIP's numbers as being 31% higher that CIHI's numbers. It should have read that OHIP's numbers were 45.4% higher than CIHI's numbers.

UPDATE January 15, 2017: OHIP's numbers are actually 53.3% higher than CIHI's numbers for 2010 stats as I calculated here.

Click on the graph below and it will enlarge.