AMA president ‘hopeful’ for ‘effective dialogue’ with Alberta health minister about controlling costs

A month after Alberta’s UCP government tabled numerous proposals for controlling health-care costs in the province, the Alberta Medical Association has provided the health minister with a formal response.

“While I appreciate that these past weeks have caused a lot of concern for all of us, I am hopeful that this could be a turning point and a new opportunity to have an effective dialogue to affect positive change,” Dr. Christine Molnar said in a statement posted to the AMA website on Friday.

Molnar said she would like to continue discussing the issues at hand with AMA members and that her formal response to Health Minister Tyler Shandro on Friday was simply the “fulfillment of a deadline.”

“The discussion and activities remain ongoing and we must maintain the momentum.”

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The AMA has said it believes some of the changes proposed by the Alberta government were outside negotiations.

The proposals, table on Nov. 14, propose changes that would target comprehensive primary care and specifically, patients who are elderly, with chronic or complex conditions or those living in rural or remote areas, according to the AMA.

“I met yesterday with Dr. Christine Molnar,” Shandro said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. “We made a number of proposals and invited the AMA to provide advice.

“We’ve now received their advice and will be reviewing their proposal over the coming weeks.”

Shandro added that “without concrete action, our physician services costs are expected to grow from over $4.6 billion to $5.7 billion in a few short years.”

READ MORE: Alberta government changing drug coverage for 26,000 patients, expects to save up to $380M

“In order to put patient care first, meaningful ways to control escalating costs must be realized. Savings will be reinvested into health care programs and services that benefit all Albertans.”

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Earlier this month, Dr. Bailey Adams from St. Albert told Global News that the proposed cuts include rural stipends to physicians, and capping the number of patients doctors see in a day.

Molnar said Friday that the proposals relate to fee reductions, de-insurance, administrative changes and Alberta Health Services payment changes

“It is the AMA’s view that those proposals directly related to physician compensation are to be discussed within the broader context of the negotiations currently taking place between Alberta Health and the AMA,” she said.

“For proposals that are not directly related to physician compensation, the AMA has provided comments and analysis for the minister’s consideration. We have asked the minister to seriously consider these points, along with information from other stakeholders, before making any final determinations.”

READ MORE: Doctors worried about Alberta government’s proposed cuts, changes to compensation

Molnar also said she agrees with Shandro that it is “important to sustain both budget and quality considerations within our system.”

The cost-cutting proposals come after Alberta Health Services announced earlier this fall that it would be forced to cut hundreds of nursing positions.

–With files from Global News’ Emily Mertz