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Ongoing negotiations between the Alberta government and the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) over a new agreement for the province’s doctors saw some potential fee changes put on hold again.
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In a Tuesday joint statement, Health Minister Jason Copping and AMA president Dr. Michelle Warren said discussions between the two sides are progressing.
Both parties had last agreed in April that any changes to Alberta Health Services (AHS) stipends and overhead costs would be put on hold until June 30 as they worked toward a new agreement.
“To provide clarity around questions physicians have raised, we can confirm that no action will be taken on June 30 with respect to AHS stipends or overhead. Any future actions Alberta Health or AHS make relating to either stipends or overhead will only be taken after appropriate notice has been provided to the AMA and affected groups so that they can consider their options,” the joint release said.
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in to tuesday letter to AMA members, Warren acknowledged “many physicians” would be affected by the change to stipends. The arrangements cover a wide variety of physicians and medical services, and were put in place to address areas where fees for services alone weren’t considered sufficient or didn’t exist.
The overhead policy deals with whether doctors who work in AHS facilities should have to pay the overhead costs of a facility out of their fees.
Alberta physicians have been without a master agreement with the government for more than two years.
In 2019, the UCP’s Bill 21 gave it the authority to cancel its deals with doctors, which was scrapped in early 2020 after talks with the AMA broke down. The government would go on to impose changes to physician rules and fees to control ballooning health-care costs, but some were halted after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.