“WSIB critics say spending cuts are ‘devastating’ injured workers” / Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star, June 10, 2016)
Since 2009 spending on drug benefits has declined by almost 30%, according to an open letter to be delivered, during today’s Provincial Day of Action, to the government and senior Board officials. Data obtained by IAVGO Community Legal Clinic through a freedom of information request shows that funding for rehabilitative services (such as physiotherapy and psychological treatment) not provided by Board-affiliated doctors dropped by 40% between 2005 and 2014.
Moreover, say critics including IAVGO lawyer Maryth Yachnin, the WSIB’s own specialty clinics’ treatment programs “often push injured workers back on the job before they are ready and set unrealistic recovery dates. Workers’ benefits are frequently cut off according to those recovery timelines, without the board ever following up with the worker or their doctor about their health…”