A number of Quebec doctors are finding ways to circumvent the province’s new rules which prohibit private clinics from charging user fees, according to allegations.
Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette announced earlier this month that the government is looking to abolish the additional fees, with a ban coming into effect tomorrow, January 26. The province’s health plan and medical insurance board RAMQ already covers such fees, hence the call for a ban to prevent patients from paying more.
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CBC News investigated and found that at least two private clinics have ordered their patients to find a registered company - even a company their patients are not employees of - that could be billed for their healthcare services, sidestepping the ban.
A patient who chose to remain anonymous told
CBC News that when she visited Montreal private clinic Rockland MD earlier this month for a surgical consultation, she was asked to pay for medical services rendered through a roundabout approach.
“They told me that the law [banning accessory fees] was coming into effect Jan. 26, and therefore, I myself could not pay them,” she said. “[I was told that] I would have to find a company: an electrician, a plumber, a hairdresser, who would agree to pay the clinic, and then I would reimburse the company.”
After paying for her bill, she began to question the legality of such a payment procedure.
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“I asked very blatantly, ‘Is this legal?’ And they said, ‘Oh yes, it is,” the patient recounted. “I asked, ‘Can it be any company? Can it be my plumber? Can it be my electrician?’ And they said as long as it’s a registered company, any company will do.”
A healthcare provider from another clinic confirmed that he regularly tells his patients that companies are able to pay the entire cost of their procedures in the public system; a practice he insists is perfectly legal.
When asked about whether he verifies if his patients are employees of the companies billed, the doctor admitted that he does not.
Although Article 22 (i) of Quebec’s Regulation on the Application of the Medical Insurance Law specifies that an employer or association is allowed to pay for the medical services of an employee, the rule could be abused.
Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, a McGill professor who specializes in health policy, explained that the law exists to help get patients back into the workforce fast. The two clinics, however, had used a loophole without verifying if their patients are employed by the billing company, “violating the principle of the law,” she pointed out.
“It’s there for when you need it, but they shouldn’t be encouraging patients to go and get this loophole,” Quesnel-Vallée told
CBC News. “They are recommending that their patients engage in illegal activities, essentially.”
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