Federal funding clawed back after clinic bills for free medical services

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This article was published 08/04/2023 (927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After losing a small chunk of its federal health funding for allowing a clinic in Manitoba to charge patients for a medically necessary service, in violation of the Canada Health Act, the provincial government says it respects the law but not the methodology being used to mete out justice.

Last month, Ottawa cracked down on provinces that in 2020-21 allowed patients to be charged for medically necessary services that should be accessible to patients at no cost, and said it would be deducting the charges from those provinces’ health transfers.

Of more than $82 million being clawed back across the country, Manitoba was assessed $353,827.

A provincial government spokesperson said Thursday that it’s talking to an unidentified Manitoba clinic about its billing practices, but wouldn’t say what services it charged patients for, how much they paid or how government would prevent clinics from billing patients privately in the future.

Critics say the province needs to make sure Manitobans don’t have to pay for medically necessary care, and to ensure private clinics know that the Canada Health Act is being upheld.

“If a company or a business in Manitoba providing health-care services to Manitoba is doing so in such a way that contravenes the Canada Health Act or any applicable provincial legislation, then that should be something that Manitobans know, and we should have the mechanisms in place to make sure that that happens,” said Thomas Linner, director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, a non-profit organization that advocates for the preservation and expansion of universal health care.

“The reason people continue to skirt the rules is because they never face any consequences,” said Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont.

“Being named publicly and having to explain why they did what they did is something that I think is worthwhile,” he said.

The Canada Health Transfer deductions may be reimbursed if the implicated province carries out a reimbursement action plan to eliminate the patient charges and circumstances that led to them, the federal government said. Reimbursement can occur anytime up to two years after the original deduction was made, it said.

Manitoba Health has been engaging with Health Canada officials in regard to its assessment and deduction, the provincial government said in an email.

“While Manitoba does respect the Canada Health Act and the role of Health Canada, the province does not agree with the methodology being utilized by Health Canada in this matter.”

The province was not able to explain in a followup email what methodology it finds disagreeable. Its answers were limited because the matter is still under review, it said.

“Manitoba Health officials have been engaging with a clinic in Manitoba, seeking clarity pertaining to some services they offer, however the review is still underway so it would not be appropriate to comment at this time,” it said.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon did not respond to a question from the Free Press as to whether the province is planning to take steps to prevent Manitobans from being charged directly for medically necessary services, such as diagnostic tests.

A government spokesperson said she was unavailable.

Lamont credited the federal government for enforcing the Canada Health Act.

“This is the way it’s supposed to work,” the Liberal member for St. Boniface said. “It’s especially critical when you consider the amount of money from both the federal and provincial governments going into health care. The federal government is asking for accountability.”

The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it would not hear a case brought forward by two private clinic operators and four patients claiming British Columbia’s Medicare Protection Act violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of the person because of long wait lists for care and not allowing them to pay privately to obtain it.

Courts in B.C. had earlier dismissed the constitutional challenge.

That province’s Medicare Protection Act prevents patients from extra billing, clarifies the rules for medical practitioners and establishes consequences for those who break the rules.

With Manitoba’s health-care system under extreme stress, this province would benefit from similar legislation, Linner said.

The Manitoba Health Coalition is calling for the creation of a made-in-Manitoba Medicare Protection Act “to ensure that everyone who needs medically necessary care is able to receive that care, regardless of their ability to pay.”

— with files from Canadian Press

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca