Bill 24 explained in plain English

Bill 24 amends Ontario laws to address unfair fees charged to patients by regulated health professionals and independent health facilities.

Bill 24 changes two Ontario laws to address unfair fees charged to patients for health care services. For regulated health professionals (such as doctors, nurses, and other licensed practitioners), the bill adds "fairness" as a requirement in how they deal with patients. It allows professional discipline panels to find that a health professional has committed misconduct if they or someone on their behalf charged a patient an unfair fee. If this happens, the panel can require the health professional to reimburse the patient and suspend their licence for three months. The bill also requires colleges that oversee these professionals to include measures in their patient relations programs to prevent and address unfair fees. Additionally, the bill gives the government authority to define "unfair fee" through regulations. For independent health facilities (private facilities that provide certain health services), the bill allows the provincial Director to revoke or suspend a facility's licence if the facility is or will be charging unfair fees to patients. The bill also allows the Director to remove specific services from a facility's licence if the Director believes fees for those services are being charged unfairly. The bill comes into force when it receives Royal Assent.