February 21, 2020
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AB Today – Daily Report February 21, 2020 Quotation of the day “Tyler Shandro, to my knowledge, doesn’t have to wear a bra every day or consider the implications of pregnancy personally.” NDP Leader Rachel Notley slams the health minister's suggestion that eliminating some breast reductions and female sterilization is not a gender issue. Today in AB On the schedule The spring session kicks off next Tuesday with a throne speech. The budget will be tabled two days later. The Legislative Assembly Office announced that starting Tuesday, question period will be livestreamed to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube each day. Premier watch On Thursday, Premier Jason Kenney participated in a teleconference with his provincial and territorial counterparts and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The call was scheduled so the leaders could discuss the ongoing protest actions across Canada in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline route that runs through their territory in British Columbia. Kenney is scheduled to make an announcement at the Glenbow Museum on Friday. Government ripping up master agreement with doctors, unilaterally imposing changes starting April 1 The Alberta government used a regulatory change to end its master agreement with doctors on Thursday after failed contract talks. As of April 1, the UCP is freezing physician compensation at $5.4 billion annually by making 11 changes to the current funding model. Health Minister Tyler Shandro said, without the changes, paying physicians would cost the province an additional $2 billion by 2022-23. “Despite repeated efforts, the [Alberta Medical Association] failed to put forward alternatives that would hold the line on physician compensation,” Shardo said, adding the province agreed to the AMA’s request to voluntary mediation. AMA president Dr. Christine Molnar disputed that claim, saying her organization put forward proposals to save $150 million annually and had planned to put in another offer to the minister today. In a letter to AMA members, Molner said she believes this is the first time in Canadian history that a government has prematurely ended a viable agreement. “It is a first for Alberta and a sad day for health care,” she wrote. Shandro used new powers enacted under the UCP’s Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability Act, which passed last year, to unilaterally terminate the agreement using an order-in-council. (Previously, ministers could not supercede the authority of a third-party chair.) The order-in-council followed last week’s breakdown in talks between the physicians and the provinces, which had been ongoing since November and included a voluntary mediator. The current agreement was scheduled to end on March 31, but rather than negotiate a new one, the province is imposing its own. The government did cede ground on some of its original physician compensation proposals, and will now phase in billing changes over two years. Specifically, it is slowing changes to complex modifiers, a billing system introduced to address the needs of aging patients who are seeing a doctor for more than one health condition. Under the current system, doctors bill $41 for the first 15 minutes of an appointment and $18 for an additional 10 minutes, totalling $59 for patients with more complicated needs. Now, the province is extending the length of time a doctor spends with their patient before the complex modifier pay bump kicks in from 15 minutes to 25 minutes. The amount general practitioners can bill for over 14 minutes, but under 24 minutes, will be cut in half in 2020-21 and eliminated in 2021-22. NDP Health critic David Shepherd said, while in power, his former government was able to negotiate with doctors to bring down costs by hundreds of millions of dollars — but the UCP seems to have determined its position by the time the MacKinnon panel released its report. “The speed and aggression with which the government has approached this is rooted in bad faith,” Shepherd said. Shepherd argued the changes will hit rural areas the hardest since many rural physicians rely on complex modifiers to stay in business. Today’s events February 21 at 11 a.m. — Calgary Premier Jason Kenney, Culture Minister Leela Aheer and Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda will make an announcement about “modernizing heritage for future generations” at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. February 21 at 11 a.m. — Edmonton Children’s Services Minister Rebecca Schulz will announce a new funding model for child advocacy centres at the Zebra Child Protection Centre. Upcoming events February 22 at 1:45 p.m. — Calgary Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Minister Leela Aheer will speak at the Ethnik Festival of Arts and Culture at the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen. Topics of conversation ● Four federal Conservative Alberta MPs have thrown their support behind a declaration seeking the recognition of their province as a “culturally distinct society” within Canada, as well as requesting several concessions to its energy industry from the federal government. ○ Dubbed The Buffalo Declaration — after the proposed name for the province that would have combined Alberta and Saskatchewan when they were still part of the Northwest Territories — the manifesto claims Alberta has been left out as an equal partner in Confederation. ○ It calls on the federal government to formally apologize for the National Energy program, give provinces sole responsibility for resource project approvals, repeal Bills C-69 and C-48, approve the Teck Frontier mine project, end equalization payments, and add more Western Canadian judges to the Supreme Court of Canada. ○ The MPs who signed the declaration are Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill), Blake Richards (Banff—Airdrie), Glen Motz (Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner) and Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock). ● The Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association issued a news release stating doctors are asking their patients to pay out of pocket to get MRI and CT exams in Edmonton, or are advising them to travel to the United States for the procedures. ○ EZMSA president Dr. Ernst Schuster said patients are being asked to pay between $375 and $800 for out-of-pocket private testing not covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan in order to avoid long wait times. ○ The average wait for an MRI at the University of Alberta hospital is 375 days, compared with 30 days in Saskatchewan and 44 days in British Columbia, per the health association. ● The Pembina Institute issued a report that argues the projected growth of the oilsands is incompatible with meeting Canada’s carbon emissions targets. ○ While emissions intensity of some oilsands projects has dropped, the report found the region’s carbon emissions have increased overall and will account for 22 per cent of Canada’s overall carbon budget by 2030. ● Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya said if the government fails to listen on the Teck Frontier mine project, it could turn into his nation’s Wet'suwet'en. ○ Speaking at a news conference in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs on Wednesday, Yakeleya said his nation would have a position on the Teck project shortly. ○ The federal government’s decision is due by the end of the month. News briefs Alberta Health removing non-urgent, out-of-country health coverage ● Alberta Health will no longer cover out-of-country health coverage that is deemed either non-urgent or elective in a bid to save $1 million per year. ○ Unlike Ontario, which recently ended its out-of-country health coverage for all patients other than those that require frequent kidney dialysis, Alberta will still provide partial reimbursement for emergency health services. ○ The change leaves Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador as the only provinces that still cover elective, non-urgent health services abroad. NDP Leader Rachel Notley says UCP adopting anti-women health policies ● NDP Leader Rachel Notley held a news conference Thursday alongside women who have experience with the surgeries identified in the Ernst and Young report on Alberta Health Services as having “limited clinical value.” Along with Notley, they called on the UCP government to reject the report’s suggestion to eliminate them. ○ Female-centric procedures deemed to have “limited clinical value” include breast reduction surgery and female sterilization, also known as tubal ligation. (Non-female-specific surgeries that also got the designation include procedures related to hernias, hemorrhoids and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as tonsil removal.) ○ The EY report said eliminating these procedures would “mean a reduction in the overall volume of procedures and waitlists.” ○ Notley said deeming tubal ligation surgery as having “limited clinical value” is inappropriate when other contraceptives, such as IUDs and birth control pills, are not covered under Alberta Health Services. ○ “We will not be told our health is not a gender issue,” the NDP leader said, accusing Health Minister Tyler Shandro of “backpedaling” by promising Albertans it will be up to their doctor’s discretion whether a surgery is approved. ○ The government maintains it will not be de-insuring or delisting any surgeries, and that EY’s list is “not gender-biased.” Appointments and employments Ministry of Advanced Education ● Vi Becker and Yasmin Jivraj were re-appointed for three-year terms on the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology board governors. ● Carol Ryder was re-appointed chair of the board of governors of Alberta University of the Arts for a three-year term. ○ Amanda Hu, Susanne DiCocco and Sheila Taylor were appointed as board members for a three-year term. ● Lynn A. Hamilton and McDonald Madamombe were appointed as members of the board of governors of Athabasca University for another three-year term. Alberta Review Board ● Dr. Charl Els was appointed to the Alberta review board for a three-year term. Alberta Electric System Operator ● Energy Minister Sonya Savage appointed three new board members to the AESO, each for a three-year term: Ann-Marie Osinski, Aaron Engen, and Karl Johannson.