BC court case could affect Medicare for all Canadians

Private clinic pushing to permit extra-billing.

July 23, 2012: Higher universal costs will result from permitting extra-billing by medical practitioners, writes David Schreck in The Tyee. Schreck explains how extra-billing affects patients and their access to health care, countering arguments that spending private dollars to reach the front of the line is harmless by demonstrating the value of fee negotiations.

"If talk shows are any indication, discussion of Dr. Brian Day's challenge of the constitutionality of some provisions of the Medicare Protection Act can easily go off on many tangents. For the future of Medicare as we know it, it is important to focus the discussion on the central issue of extra-billing, which is prohibited under the act.

Extra-billing occurs when a physician bills a patient for a service that could be billed to the Medical Services Plan, whether or not MSP is billed. Sections 17-19 of the act define direct or extra-billing (synonymous terms). The term double billing is not defined in the act…"

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