Pathways to Better Care

Scrubs CEO Peter Verburg recently wrote an opinion piece on the role private health care can play in Canada. Read an excerpt below or check out the full article here.

Few things seem to agitate Canadians more than the topic of private health care. That was apparent yet again last week after Dr. Sally Talbot-Jones, owner of Marda Loop Medical Clinic, planned to launch a membership scheme, which she called a “transformative health care initiative.” The cost: $200 a month for an adult.

I’ve never spoken with Talbot-Jones, but I suspect she didn’t anticipate the uproar the plan would generate.

Provincial and federal politicians immediately slammed the move. The Canadian Medical Association chimed in, as did the College of Family Physicians of Canada and Friends of Medicare, which said “membership fees such as these are designed as a loophole to get around the rules and principles” in the Canada Health Act.

Talbot-Jones should have seen it coming. Dropping a costly membership plan on her existing patients — with the basic “free” care for non-members limited to one-day a week — seems to give paying members better access.

But let’s break this down and have a smarter conversation about user fees in primary care. 

There are two issues at play. First, there is a question of access, and whether a membership creates a disparity for patients who choose to opt out. Talbot-Jones seemed to acknowledge this by stating “reduced wait times” are a benefit of membership. The second issue is whether a clinic can charge patients for enhanced non-insured services, while also billing the public system for “medically necessary” care.”

Read the full column on the Calgary Herald website.