{"id":5381,"date":"2017-06-15T16:36:41","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T20:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=5381"},"modified":"2020-05-08T17:04:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T21:04:43","slug":"canadas-health-minister-calls-out-bc-for-extra-billing-by-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/canadas-health-minister-calls-out-bc-for-extra-billing-by-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s Health Minister Calls Out BC for Extra-Billing by Doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

(June 13, 2017)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By:\u00a0Kyle Duggan<\/a><\/p>\n

Health Minister Jane Philpott condemned extra-billing by Canadian doctors at a gathering of healthcare and hospital professionals in Vancouver Monday, singling out B.C. as a province that needs to stem the growing practice.<\/p>\n

At the national HealthcareCan conference in Vancouver, Philpott responded to media reports that the practice has been on the rise and Canadians are paying extra out of pocket fees to access timely care.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Canadians should access medically necessary care in a timely way, prioritized according to medical need, not according to ability to pay,\u201d Philpott said.<\/p>\n

The Globe and Mail reported<\/a> that double-billing has been taking place across Canada, with patients paying more to access quicker care from private clinics. Extra-billing by doctors isn\u2019t allowed under the Canada Health Act, and provinces can be fined for instances\u00a0of extra billing.<\/p>\n

Philpott said provinces need to prevent\u00a0the practice \u2014 but\u00a0the federal government needs to know when it happens before it can do anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur method for enforcing is [through] the reports that come to us from the provinces,\u201d she told reporters Monday.<\/p>\n

Philpott said more needs to be done on\u00a0getting more accurate reporting from provinces because Ottawa doesn\u2019t conduct the\u00a0audits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with provinces where we believe there are potential violations to make sure their reports are more accurate… we\u2019re seeing increasingly audits being done across this country,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Philpott wrote to provincial health ministers last year voicing concern about reports of extra billing after a Quebec audit offered\u00a0evidence doctors were charging accessory fees.<\/p>\n

She said she plans to press\u00a0for a provincial investigation of\u00a0extra-billing in B.C., where it\u2019s become a common\u00a0practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cB.C. hasn\u2019t had a proper audit for 10 years,\u201d Philpott said. \u201cSo we have those discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the problem isn\u2019t limited to\u00a0B.C. A report<\/a> released Monday by\u00a0the Ontario Health Coalition, which opposes the practice, said that it found evidence that some\u00a088 clinics across\u00a0six different provinces are charging extra user fees.<\/p>\n

Philpott is meanwhile meeting with healthcare stakeholders Monday for a roundtable on opioid deaths in the province she said has\u00a0become \u201cground zero\u201d for the crisis in Canada.<\/p>\n

The federal government reported last week for the first time ever a count of national overdose numbers for the year, revealing that at least 2,458 Canadians died last year from an opioid-related overdose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2017 numbers are projected to surpass this,\u201d Philpott said in her speech Monday. \u201cIt is going to get worse before it gets better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philpott said federal government has granted approvals for 12 supervised consumption sites since the Liberals came to office, and said restoring support for harm reduction at\u00a0the federal level is one of the tools the government has for\u00a0staving off more deaths.<\/p>\n