According to a news report, the cost of providing treatment for autistic children will increase after the harmonized sales tax (HST) starts on July 1.

This step has drawn criticism from angry parents who are already becoming bankrupt, trying to maintain the expensive therapy for their kids.

Parents purchasing the treatment from a therapist who does not have a license issued by a provincial body will be charged an extra 8% on top of the GST they already pay.

On Tuesday, however, the Government confirmed that parents whose children get publicly funded IBI therapy, and those who buy private IBI services from a registered psychologist will not be charged HST.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said that charging an additional 8% on a therapy that can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year is "adding insult to injury".

Horwath added that some parents do not have a registered psychologist providing IBI because the Government has eliminated that condition.

Horwath is urging the province to relieve IBI therapy from the HST, but, Laurel Broten, Children and Youth Services Minister, said that it's up to Ottawa to make the move.

She wishes that the Federal Government does not apply the GST to these services, but that is their decision.

"My role, and what I can do to help Ontario families, is continue to press forward and work hard to deliver publicly funded services for children with autism. Obviously a strong economy and tax reforms such as the HST are a solid foundation to be able to maintain and expand publicly funded services", she added.