E ie Fates

March 29, 1992 64 pages

Office, Editorial 985-2131

The Wedding Book
special feature: 15

Okanagan ideas: 49

Distribution 985-1773

MEWS photo Cindy Goodman

HIGH SCHOOL senior boys’ rugby action Thursday had West Vancouver Sec-
ondary’s Highlanders (black jerseys) out in front until the Argyle Pipers (green
jerseys) tied the game 6-6. The game was played at West Vancouver Second-

Local physicians fume over MSP. income caps

THURSDAY'S PROVINCIAL budget move to cap Medi-
cal Services Plan (MSP) pay-outs, cap the fees of upper-
income doctors and remove a pension plan given to doc-

tors last year by
demoralized and angry.

The MSP pay-out ceiling is set
at $1.48 billion. Of that total,
doctors will receive $1.27 billion
(up 2% over last year).

General! practitioners may bii} a
Maxiinum annual amount of
$300,000 to MSP; specialists may
bill a maximum annual amount of
$360,000.

A $25 million doctors’ pension
plan has also been cancelled.

the Socreds has left

local doctors

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

North Vancouver general
surgeon Dr. Anthony Chan,
North Shore representative of the
BCMA Local Action Committee,
said he will not personally be af-
fected by the individual cap.

But he said, *‘In practice myself

and the majority of the doctors in
this province are not affected
because we don’t reach that dollar
threshold. However in principle it
is something that is tctally repug-
nant and unfair."”

Some doctors earn high incomes
for a number of reasons.

Chan said the small minority of
doctors who over-service or sub-
mit fraudulent billings are usually
picked out by the patterns of
practice committee, a joint com.
mittee with cepresentation from
the BCMA and the B.C. govern-

ese doctors,’’ he said, ‘‘ar

7

monitored and when found to be
culpable they are made to pay
back.’’

Other high earners are either
hard workers or are very good at
what they do.

Said Chan, “A cap will en-
courage mediocrity. Ht might cause
some of these pecple to slacken
on their workload.

But said North Vancouver-
Lonsdale MLA David Schreck.
“Physicians in the United Stat
have gross incomes almost twice
the fevel of Canadian physicians.
If the cop billers are tempted to
Mee to the Unitea States they
would have been as equally temp-
ted last year with that enormous
differential.”’

ee)

Schreck said the individual bill-
ing caps will make the system
fairer.

In defence of the policy, he
said, “‘I say this not only as an
MLA but as someone who has
been a health economist for a
number of decades, but | believe
the majority of the physicians will
find this to their benefit.

“There has been a global cap in
effect for over 10 years now.
global cap resulted in a redu
for everyone. If as a result of that

global cap physicians had to repay
$30 million it would unfairly hit
on those physicians at the bottom
end of the system. This bottom-
loads the fee-schedule.”’

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