FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 02, 1998
WCB Incentive Fees Create Two Tier Health Care, Prop Up Private Hospital
Provincial Health Cuts To Blame for Long Waiting Lists
EDMONTON--The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) criticized today the Workers’ Compensation Board’s decision to offer incentive fees to doctors, calling it a step toward two-tier health care. Incentives will help prop up Canada’s first private, for-profit hospital in Calgary, the AFL charged. "By offering incentives to doctors to treat WCB clients quickly, the WCB is setting a dangerous precedent with two-tier health care," stated AFL President Audrey Cormack. "It creates a lucrative market for HRG and other private health providers to take over services which should be in the exclusive domain of public hospitals." "It seems like WCB is only too happy to set up a second tier of health care, regardless of what it does to the public health care system," added Cormack. Cormack was responding to WCB’s plan to begin offering a $200 bonus payment to doctors who perform surgery on WCB clients within 15 days of diagnosis. WCB is also hiking surgical fees by up to 500% for selected surgeries. WCB states that the steps are necessary to reduce waiting times for WCB claimants. "The WCB’s plan is worse than the problem it is supposed to fix," noted Cormack. "Rather than creating two classes of patients, it should be working to bolster funding for public hospitals so everyone can get quicker surgery." "Alberta is dead last in per capita spending on health care. Health Authorities are scrambling to hire more staff because they can no longer keep up with the workload. It is time to acknowledge the crisis and fix it." Cormack also renewed her call for WCB to cease sending patients to HRG, the private hospital in Calgary. Yesterday WCB acknowledged it spent over $43,000 at HRG last year. "I believe HRG is a very serious threat to Medicare, and WCB should not be propping it up. Not a single injured worker should be going to that facility." "WCB may legally be separate from Medicare, but as Albertans and Canadians the people running it have a moral obligation to defend public health care. I feel they are failing in that obligation." Cormack concluded.
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