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

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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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