Province of Ontario Proposes Sunshine Act for the Health Care Sector

On September 28, Ontario Heath Minister Eric Hoskins tabled a bill that proposes to make public the payments made by the health care industry to workers in the sector. If adopted, the proposed legislation would be the first of its kind in Canada and it’s expected it would serve as the benchmark for other future provincial laws.

MRIA responded quickly on September 29 with a letter to Minister Hoskins outlining the importance of health care market research and making the case for an exemption for legitimate research studies.

The Health Sector Payment Transparency Act is intended to strengthen openness and transparency by requiring the reporting and publication of financial relationships that exist within Ontario’s health care system. The Act would make it mandatory for the medical industry, including pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, to disclose ‘direct and indirect’ transactions (including payments, gifts, dinners, trips and other benefits) made with health care professionals. The public would then be able to search this information in an online database, which would be updated at least once a year.

The legislation is modelled on the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the U.S. In our letter, we point to an exemption that exists in the US law, whereby the reporting requirement does not apply in cases where the payor is ‘unaware of the identity of the covered recipient.’ This clause was adopted at the behest of the Insights Association (MRIA’s sister organization in the US), which successfully lobbied for the protection of blinded research studies.

MRIA will continue its lobbying efforts as the Bill makes its way through Queen’s Park.

The Health Sector Payment Transparency Act, 2017 is one of 10 pieces of legislation captured in Bill 160, Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017. The Bill touches on a broad range of health-related issues, ranging from long-term care to x-ray imaging, drug benefits, retirement homes and ambulance care.

Ontario is following in the footsteps of several other countries that have enacted similar legislation, including the United States, Australia, Japan, and many European nations. The Minister has already obtained the cautious support of large multi-national pharmaceutical companies such as GSK and other prominent stakeholders in the health care sector.