“BC Medical Services Inspectorate Takes Legal Action Against Vancouver Clinic for Unlawful Billing Practices”
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BC cracks down on private health clinics, while Ontario relies on private surgical clinics to reduce wait times.
Harrison Healthcare is owned by Don Copeman, who founded Copeman Healthcare in 2005, which was acquired by Telus Health in 2018. Photo by Christina Ryan Supplied Picture / Calgary Herald
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BC’s medical services agency is taking a more aggressive stance against private health clinics that allegedly conduct illegal supplemental billing, as evidenced by its recent legal salvo against a Vancouver-based clinic.
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The province cracks down on private health clinics, while Ontario relies on private surgical facilities to reduce wait times.
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The Medical Services Commission has sought an injunction against Harrison Healthcare alleging that the company, which operates clinics in Vancouver and Calgary, charges patients for “bundled” health services that fall under the public health system, in violation of Medicare Protection Act violates . The allegations could not be proven in court.
The request for an injunction, filed Feb. 1 in the British Columbia Superior Court, contains similar arguments to a request for a temporary injunction filed by the Commission in December against Telus Health in December, relating to the company’s subscription-based healthcare service, Life Plus, aims.
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On its website, Harrison Healthcare advertises its “premium” healthcare program, which costs patients $5,500 for the first year and $4,500 thereafter. A preventive care program for teens and young adults costs $1,600 per year and services for children cost $675 per year.
The company emphasizes that “fees for programs apply solely to the uninsured components of care,” according to the website.
The court filing alleges that Harrison Healthcare “charges for or in connection with MSP-covered medical services such that a reasonable person would consider that purchasing Harrison Healthcare’s services would result in preferential treatment or access to those services.” would lead”.
Harrison Healthcare also advertises on its website that its eight GPs have a small list of fewer than 400 patients. This is compared to a typical BC GP who has a patient list of about 1,250 patients. The company’s website says it has plans to open eight new clinics over the next three years, including one more in Vancouver, and new clinics in Victoria, Kelowna, North Shore, South Surrey/Langley and three more outside of BC
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Harrison Healthcare is owned by Don Copeman. He founded Copeman Healthcare in 2005, which was acquired by Telus Health in 2018.
Copeman said the clinic has not yet submitted its response to the petition. However, he said in an email to Postmedia: “We are confident in our compliance with the legislation.”
When asked whether the BC government is directing the commission to take a more aggressive stance on private health clinics, Health Secretary Adrian Dix did not directly answer.
“I believe in public health and I believe in the Medicare Protection Act,” he said.
The Medical Services Commission is taking “necessary options” to protect the province’s healthcare system, Dix said.
“This is not the first step they are taking,” he said. “Obviously you don’t want to stand trial. They want to solve problems before they go to court.”
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The BC NDP’s first throne speech under Prime Minister David Eby made it clear that the province is moving away from private health care, even as provinces like Ontario are turning to private clinics to reduce wait times for surgical procedures.
Private healthcare, the speech said, is “a dangerous move toward a two-tier system that we know British Columbians don’t want.”
BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau said despite the rhetoric in the speech from the throne, the government has created the conditions for private clinics to thrive “in the vacuum of primary health care in BC,” where an estimated one million people are without a family doctor.
“They were really able to take advantage of the fact that we don’t have an effective primary health care system in BC and it has been weakened in recent years,” Furstenau said.
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In July, the BC Court of Appeals upheld the province’s ban on private health care. The three judges agreed that BC’s ban on additional bills for doctors and restrictions on private health insurance were not unconstitutional, but acknowledged that people suffer and die because they wait too long for necessary medical care.
Dr. Brian Day of the Cambie Surgery Center argued that regulated private surgical services and private health insurance could relieve pressure on the public system and provide a “safety valve” for patients facing long waits.
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