Canadian doctors are protesting health care changes that they say will increase the vulnerability of new arrivals and refugees in Canada -- and cost the system more in the long run.

The changes to the Interim Federal Healthcare program, announced in April by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, will ensure that Canadian taxpayers aren't paying for benefits for new arrivals "that are more generous than what they are entitled to themselves," he said.

The changes are set to take effect on Saturday and will reduce, and in some cases eliminate, federal coverage for new arrivals.

The changes are expected to save Ottawa $100 million over five years, and discourage fraudulent claimants. However, Dr. Mark Tyndall, who represents Doctors for Refugee Care, said the long term effects will be negative.

"It will cost way more money, it's a risk to health and safety and it has nothing to do with discouraging people from coming to Canada. So the effect on our health care system will be quite significant in terms of cost and public safety," Tyndall told CTV News Channel.

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews also urged the federal government to reverse its decision to reduce health benefits for refugee claimants.

"In effect, this policy change will create a class system for health care in Canada," Matthews wrote in a letter to Kenney and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

A group of doctors gathered Friday in Montreal to publicly bundle up hundreds of letters of protest, which will be mailed to Kenney along with a petition with more than 800 signatures.

Under the changes:

  • All refugees will lose access to medication, dental and vision care coverage.
  • Health insurance will only cover "urgent or essential care," not preventative care.
  • People from countries deemed to be safe will lose all health care coverage, including for urgent or essential care, except in cases of dangerous, transferrable infections, or conditions that represent a public security risk, such as psychotic mental health conditions.

Tyndall said the changes will make refugees, who are often fleeing war and persecution and have little or no money, at even greater risk of harm.

"For those of us who deal with refugee populations, the biggest challenge is trying to get them engaged in any kind of healthcare at all," Tyndall told CTV News Channel.

"And the cost to the system if we do not provide them with primary care and only deal with urgent care that requires hospital admissions or emergency room visits will cost the system far more."

Tyndall, who is the head of infectious diseases at the University of Ottawa, said he is also concerned that refugees with serious, transmittable diseases, won't come forward to seek medical attention and could easily spread their illness to others as a result.

He said the changes amount to a "dumb policy" and said the government hasn't done its homework.

"There has been no consultation with any kind of medical association and our minister of immigration has come up with these sweeping health care changes without any kind of negotiation with people who are at the front lines."

NDP’s immigration critic Jinny Sims echoed Tyndall’s comments, saying the Conservatives should have consulted health care professionals before getting rid of refugees’ health benefits.

None of the refugees ever got “platinum benefits” anyway, Sims told CTV’s Power Play on Friday.

But Kenney said settled refugees will continue to get “comprehensive health coverage,” just without the extra dental, vision and medication benefits.

“The vast majority of the refugee claimants who show up here seeking protection will continue to get the same kind of coverage that people in Canada get,” he told Power Play.

The biggest impact will be on those people whose refugee claims are rejected or found to be bogus, Kenney said.

“Why would we be giving comprehensive benefits at the taxpayer’s expense to basically illegal immigrants?” he said.

“Canadians have said to us for a long time that there seems to be a lack of fairness, that we shouldn’t be giving special health benefits to, for example, rejected asylum claimants, that Canadians don’t get. And this levels the playing field,” he said.

Kenney said also said he doesn’t understand the pushback on the provincial level because changes to the Interim Federal Healthcare program will save provinces a lot of money.

Tyndall said doctors and clinics across Canada will be monitoring and reporting to the public on the results of the new policy.

With files from The Canadian Press