Alberta looking to save $400M in doctor payments, medical association president says in memo

Lisa Johnson · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 6:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Alberta authorities wants to chopped much than $400 cardinal successful the fees it pays to doctors, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Canadian Press.

The Feb. 18 memo, sent by Alberta Medical Association caput Dr. Shelley Duggan to subordinate physicians, says Alberta's wellness ministry seeks cuts to much than 800 doc billing codes to prevention $400 cardinal due to the fact that of fund pressures.

Those codes laic retired however overmuch wealth is paid for circumstantial procedures, sometimes based connected the magnitude of clip that a doc spends with a patient.

"What has go wide successful the past fewer months is that Alberta Health is looking to code its fund shortfalls done the doc services budget," Duggan writes.

"While we anticipation Alberta Health volition reconsider its existent approach, we wanted to counsel members that it's highly apt the [issue] will proceed to arbitration."

Duggan says the authorities determination breaks an statement to jointly reappraisal the billing changes due to the fact that the state has not near capable clip for a due valuation earlier a March 31 deadline.

$6.7B budgeted for doc compensation

If the 2 sides can't scope a woody by then, the adjacent steps would beryllium mediation followed by binding arbitration, if necessary, aboriginal successful the spring.

The association, known arsenic AMA, declined to talk to Duggan's memo, citing confidentiality requirements of their 2022 maestro statement with the province.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office, successful a statement, besides declined to sermon specifics but said they stay committed to the agreed-upon associated reappraisal process.

It besides noted wide authorities spending connected physicians has been rising, going up by $1 cardinal since 2022-23.

"This twelvemonth unsocial the authorities is connected way to walk acold much than the $6.7 cardinal that was budgeted connected doc compensation for Alberta's astir 12,000 physicians," it said.

Alberta NDP Opposition wellness professional Sarah Hoffman said the projected billing cuts are different measurement successful a larger authorities program to undermine nationalist wellness attraction and steer much patients to privatized services.

"I'm proceeding from a batch of doctors [about] growing mistrust, increasing anxiousness and increasing accent astir the aboriginal of their signifier and what the aboriginal of nationalist wellness attraction is going to be," Hoffman said.

"They cognize that the authorities is focused connected undermining them and each nationalist services, and they don't consciousness respected successful this process."

The quality is acceptable against a inheritance of reddish ink, contention and structural upheaval successful wellness care.

Premier Danielle Smith's authorities has introduced a fund for the upcoming twelvemonth that forecasts a $5.2 cardinal deficit, citing uncertainty implicit U.S. tariffs and expected declines successful lipid revenue.

The AMA has said the fund shortchanges doc compensation and improvement by astir $600 million.

"It is unclear however authorities plans to equilibrium the probable 2025-26 expenditures for doc compensation and improvement against an insufficient budget," the relation said aft the fund was tabled Feb. 27.

The AMA had said it would beryllium inappropriate for the authorities to money the shortfall by making changes to billing codes.

The wellness strategy is presently undergoing foundational restructuring of however it's organized.