It has now been a little over a year since the Ontario government revised the statutory accident benefits regime by passing Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule – Effective September 1, 2010. O. Reg. 34/10 (SABS). This new regulation reduced the insurance benefits available to people injured in motor vehicle accidents.
While it is too soon to comment on the long-term effects this regulation will have on accident victims and health professionals in Ontario, this article will review some concerns that health professionals and claimants have raised recently.
This article was first published in The Health Professional magazine in September 2011. It reviews the effect of the September 1, 2010 changes to the accident benefits system for health care professionals.
This article was presented at a 2011 conference of law clerks. It describes the interaction between the tort and accident benefits systems.
In this modern era, traveling to foreign and exotic places is commonplace, especially for Canadians who love to escape to warmer weather during the winter. Many Canadians regularly travel to islands in the Caribbean, to the U.S., Europe, and Mexico. While at these destinations, you will no doubt travel in some form of a motor vehicle, but what happens if you get in an accident or injured?
A recent Ontario court decision is timely in light of the upcoming changes in medical and rehabilitation benefits. In Medcentra Inc. v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company (2010), 98 O.R. (3d) 624 (S.C.J.) Medcentra had provided a series of MRI’s to people injured in automobile accidents who were insured under auto policies issued by Economical. Economical had in the past accepted invoices directly from Medcentra and paid those invoices. Economical refused to pay the invoices at issue in the case.