AB Today – Daily Report January 10, 2020
Quotation of the day
“Recent instability in the Middle East underscores why Energy East should be revived.”
Premier Jason Kenney says reviving the Energy East pipeline project would increase Canada’s energy security.
Today in AB
Premier watch During a Facebook Live Q&A on Wednesday evening, Premier Jason Kenney teased plans for new government investments in biotech, food processing, renewable energy, real estate and other industries — in addition to energy — in 2020.
The premier also provided a brief recap of his trip to London, U.K., last month.
“We are facing a real fight on our hands with the green left lobby groups trying to impose an unfair double standard on Canadian energy,” Kenney said.
However, Alberta’s message is starting to register in foreign markets such as the U.K. and U.S., he added.
The premier took questions on the carbon tax, the status of opting out of the Canada Pension Plan, economic diversification efforts, labour negotiations, hospital wait times, oil curtailment and more.
UCP government looking to save $346M annually through changes to physician billing The Alberta Medical Association is positioned to mount a legal challenge against the province over forthcoming changes to the physician compensation model that could see Alberta doctors earn $346 million less in annual compensation.
Should the challenge proceed, AMA plans to argue that changes to complex billing — part of several health-care proposals the United Conservative government has put forward — circumvent ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.
“Anticipated changes to those rules amount to indirect rate changes which clearly fall within the AMA's jurisdiction to negotiation under [section] 40.1 of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act,” reads a letter from the AMA’s lawyer, obtained by AB Today.
In a letter to the government last month, AMA president Christine Molnar said the proposed changes to the complex modifier billing schedule would cost physicians — but save taxpayers — $346 million per year. The proposed changes could take effect as early as February 1.
Of the proposed cuts, $200 million will come from changes to the complex modifiers system, which was introduced in Alberta in 2009 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.
But the province says physicians have abused the billing practice and is moving towards a baseline of $41 per 25-minutes of treatment.
Time-based billing is a different approach than systems used by other provinces. In B.C. and Saskatchewan, visit and consultation fees are based on the age of the patient. In Ontario, physicians who provide comprehensive care are eligible to bill for a 10 per cent premium.
One concern raised by the 1,500 physicians who provided feedback during the government’s consultation is that fee changes would disproportionately affect rural service providers, who typically see less patients.
The UCP could make the billing tweaks through a ministerial order to the schedule of medical benefits, circumventing collective bargaining.
The other $146 million in provincial savings would come from 10 other recommendations, including capping the number of patients doctors can see per day, cutting back on overhead billing and no longer allowing uninsured providers, such as chiropractors, to bill for diagnostic imaging.
Consultations on the changes began in November and wrapped up last month.
Meanwhile, Ernst & Young’s review of Alberta Health Services wrapped on December 31 but has not yet been made public. Last year’s MacKinnon report suggested the province pursue alternate physician compensation models.
Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and the AMA have been in negotiations since October 30, 2019.
Upcoming events
January 11 at 11 a.m. – Edmonton Wexit Alberta is planning to hold a rally on the legislature grounds to call for a referendum on separation.
Topics of conversation
● Credit Suisse analyst Manav Gupta released a report warning the Western Canadian Select benchmark is at risk of collapsing. ○ As the UCP eases the former NDP government’s crude oil production curtailments, there is a risk of another price “blowout,” per the report. ○ Since the production limits were brought in, they have slowly eased, but November’s rail strike, and the temporary shutdown of the Keystone XL pipeline, built up an oil glut.
● Canadian Energy Centre CEO Tom Olsen says the war room is sticking with its second logo. ○ In an interview with the Edmonton Journal, Olsen responded to some of the criticisms the war room has faced since its launch, including its current logo that bears similarity to a software company’s logo. ○ The war room’s first logo was axed after it was revealed to be identical to that of software company Progress.
● Alberta Senator Doug Black wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau inviting the federal cabinet to meet in Alberta — potentially in Grande Prairie or Fort McMurray. ○ “Acting upon this suggestion will provide an opportunity for you, your colleagues and senior officials to witness firsthand the impacts that federal policies are having on these communities, their residents, and by extension, this Province,” Black wrote.
● Cenovus Energy announced new sustainability targets on Thursday, including plans to reclaim 1,500 abandoned oil wells by 2030. ○ The company also wants to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
New briefs — Non-governmental NDP says upcoming report to show effects of auto insurance cap lifting The Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board report, which details changes to car insurance rates, will be released today, according to the official Opposition.
The UCP government, which is reviewing the auto insurance system, did not renew the former NDP government’s five per cent average cap on auto insurance rates.
The NDP said the report will “make clear the harm caused to Albertans by Jason Kenney’s decision to remove the cap on automobile insurance rates.”
The NDP noted Premier Kenney’s former chief of staff and campaign manager Nick Koolsbergen has lobbied for changes to the rate cap.
In May, weeks after election day and months before the UCP announced its auto insurance review, Koolsbergen registered to lobby the premier’s office, cabinet and the minister of finance on behalf of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) to “advocate for market-based auto insurance rates vs an artificial rate cap.”
The lobbyist registry also shows Koolsbergen was advocating on behalf of IBC for the government to give the thumbs up to electronic proof of insurance, which the UCP did in August.
Lobbyist registrations
If you are looking for further information on any lobbying registry, it is all public and easily searchable here.
Consultants who registered as lobbyists from January 1, 2020 – January 9, 2020
● Dan Carbin, Santis Health Inc. ○ Clients: Canadian Biosimilars Forum
● Hal Danchilla, CSG Canadian Strategy Group Inc. (also operating as Crestview Strategy (Alberta)) ○ Clients: Edmonton Economic Development Corporation Organizations that registered in-house lobbyists from January 1, 2020 – January 9, 2020
● Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd ● The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary ● Building Trades of Alberta ● Capital Power