This past week, Global News’ investigative team published an explosive investigation detailing how some pharmacists are making big bucks by scamming the Ontario Drug Benefit Program out of millions of dollars.
The ODB pays for medications for Ontario’s most vulnerable: children, the elderly and those on social assistance. When a qualified patient fills a prescription, they either don’t pay anything or pay a few dollars, and ODB covers the rest.
LISTEN: This is why greedy pharmacists are costing taxpayers millions of dollars
The program costs the province more than $5.4 billion a year.
Pharmacists bill the province every two weeks for medication dispensed to ODB patients and are paid shortly afterwards.
Dishonest pharmacists overbill by tacking extra drugs that they never dispensed onto these bills so that they are reimbursed for more drugs than they have sold. Untold millions earmarked for the sick and needy end up in their pockets.
In this week’s episode, This is Why host Niki Reitmayer sits down with chief investigative correspondent Carolyn Jarvis as she explains how the scam is operating and why so few pharmacists are getting caught.
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