Health minister explains proposal to province’s doctors

Posted on December 17, 2016 in Health Debates

TheStar.com – Opinion/Commentary – Hoskins asks OMA to refrain from taking job action and to share the deal with all Ontario doctors
Dec. 16, 2016.   By ERIC HOSKINS

Earlier this week, our government shared with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) a proposal for a three-year plan with Ontario’s doctors.

This proposal would improve patients’ access to doctors, provides more support for family physicians, and builds stability in Ontario’s health-care budget.

It is a fair and reasonable proposal that recognizes the important work being done by our family doctors, and puts the needs of Ontario patients at the forefront of our decision making.

An important aspect of this proposal is that it would provide more for family doctors and less for those relatively few physicians who already bill OHIP in excess of $1 million a year. This move is not only sensible, it also responds to the concerns of many experts, including the Auditor General.

Overall, the physician services budget would increase by 2.5 per cent for each year of the three-year agreement. Nearly $2 billion dollars would be added to the budget for doctors’ compensation. It would mean better pay for our hard working family doctors, who would receive $185 million more in compensation.

The proposal also calls for a “fairness review” of fees paid to physicians, to ensure fees paid for procedures and activities would be compensation fairly, taking into account improvements in technology. Doctors billing more than $1 million annually would have a 10 per cent discount applied to the portion of their billings between $1 million and $2 million. Nearly 1,500 new graduates and existing family doctors would also benefit from opportunities to practice in the team-based models, including Family Health Teams, they were trained in.

This proposal also reflects our government’s ongoing commitment to strengthen our health-care system — not in the way it works for government or even physicians, but in the way it works for patients. Above all, these changes would boost patient access, meaning more people could get in quickly to see their physician when the need arises. It would add at least 700 new doctors each year, providing even more Ontarians with access to a family doctor. It would mean greater accountability, and would allow our health-care system to deliver more comprehensive care to patients.

After presenting the proposal to the OMA, we took the added step of sharing our proposal with all Ontarians. We did this because, after three years of on-again, off-again talks with the OMA we wanted to avoid any confusion about what we are proposing and why. Ontario’s health care system belongs to the people of Ontario. That concept is at the core of our government’s commitment to put patients first.

Unfortunately, the response from the OMA has been less than helpful. Instead of reviewing and commenting on our suggestions, they have instead dismissed it. This proposal — which would see nearly $2 billion added to what doctors in Ontario can bill over the next three years — was called disrespectful.

Even more concerning, the OMA has suggested it might even consider some form of job action. I am asking them to do two things.

First, let’s lower the rhetoric and keep patients out of this disagreement. A good-faith proposal, aiming to bring parties back to the table, and paying family doctors more by lowering fees for physicians billing more than $1-million a year does not justify a withdrawal of services. The OMA should take job action off the table — clearly and unequivocally.

Second, we hope the OMA will share this proposal in full with all of Ontario’s doctors. We believe it is fair and reasonable. Certainly, the 8,000 family doctors who stand to benefit directly should at least have the option of seeing what the OMA plans to reject out of hand on their behalf.

As minister, and a physician, I believe very strongly the plan we have put forward will strengthen family medicine in Ontario, ensuring patients have better access to doctors are compensated fairly. At a minimum, I hope it will serve as a basis to renew discussions and allow us all to put patients first.

Eric Hoskins is Ontario’s minister of health and long-term care.

< https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/12/16/health-minister-explains-proposal-to-provinces-doctors.html >

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