B.C. Greens demanding watchdog report into Telus Health be made public
The BC Green Party is asking the province to release a health-care watchdog's report into corporate care they believe may be creating a two-tiered system in the province.
For months the party has raised the alarm over stressed out family doctors leaving the industry, and the growth of corporations offering private health services.
In February, MLA Adam Olsen highlighted questions about Telus Health's Lifeplus program in the B.C. legislature. For thousands of dollars a year -- patients can access a team of professionals like physiotherapists and dieticians. According to Telus Health, the care centres "do not charge for access to public family doctors."
At that time, a medical clinic in Olsen's riding was about to close.
"Telus Health MyCare provides a virtual walk-in clinic billed to MSP insurance. But if you want a so-called premium service, like annual screenings, preventative health and advanced diagnostics — services which used to be part of basic primary health care — you would have to pay for that out of your own pocket," Olson said during Question Period.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the Medical Services Commission would review the model.
Party Leader Sonia Furstenau wants to know where the report is, adding the findings were due at the end of June.
"The key issue is whether corporations are charging people for access to basic health care," said Furstenau.
She said whatever is found should be made public. No such commitment has been made. The Medical Services Commission and the Health Ministry did not respond to questions about this by deadline.
Furstenau went on to say, "I think it's essential that the minister reports out what is in this Medical Services Commission report. What does it say about Telus Health practices? And is it in violation of the Canada Health Act?
In an interview with CTV Monday, Dix said the issue was under review.
In an email, Telus Health said it's cooperating with the review -- and denied it is breaking any rules.
"We have no ability, and are fundamentally opposed, to fast-tracking publicly-funded health services for a fee," aspokesperson said when asked about the Lifeplus service.
Lifeplus differs from Telus Health's My Care -- which offers virtual doctors appointments through a free app.
With roughly a million British Columbians without a family doctor, and physicians complaining of an outdated compensation model -- Furstenau worries more primary careproviders may leave the public system and go private.
"We are hearing of doctors that are closing down their family practices and moving over to Telus and for people to still have access to that family doctor, they are having to pay that yearly fee," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.