Alberta premier threatens sanctions against Calgary clinic set to charge fees
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says if a Calgary medical clinic begins charging a fee for faster access to a family doctor, it will be shut down, fined or have medicare payments from the province withheld.
Smith says her government is committed to the principles of the Canada Health Act that include patients not paying to access publicly funded services such as doctor visits.
“We won’t let it happen,” Smith told reporters in Calgary on Friday.
“I signed a protocol with the federal government for 10 years committing to the principles of the Canada Health Act. That means that you cannot charge to access insured services.
“If that’s what they are doing, they will be shut down, they will be fined, or we will withhold payments to them.”
The Marda Loop Medical Clinic has told patients it will begin offering membership-fee based services, including faster access to its physician, starting Tuesday.
The annual membership is set at $2,200 for an individual and $4,800 for a family.
The clinic promises to keep one day a week open for patients who have not signed on to the membership plan.
Health Canada has said the fees violate the provisions of the act, which guarantees a level playing field for access to insured medical services paid for from the public purse.
The clinic did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
The new program was communicated to Marda Loop patients in a recent email. It is not mentioned on the clinic’s website and the provincial regulator, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, said earlier this week it was not asked to review the clinic’s new fee model before implementation.
In the email to patients, clinic owner and physician Sally Talbot-Jones characterized the move as “a transformative
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