Province unveils legislation opening door to private medical testing

New legislation introduced in Alberta on Monday would allow patients to pay for diagnostic tests and screenings. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson reports.

The Alberta government introduced legislation Monday afternoon to lay groundwork that will ultimately allow people to pay for access to medical testing without a referral from a doctor.

Which tests those will be have yet to be decided, the minister of primary and preventative health services told media.

Adriana LaGrange said Monday her government needs “this enabling legislation to allow us to build up the regulations where all those details will be determined.”

In a video released by the province in October, LaGrange and Premier Danielle Smith said legislative reforms will let residents of the province pay out of pocket for any diagnostic screening and testing services, including MRIs, CT scans, full-body scans and blood work.

LaGrange said that, currently, too many people are waiting too long for diagnostic testing.

“Early treatment is often simpler, more effective and less invasive, and it also leads to better outcomes for patients and less pressure on our health-care system,” she said.

Medically necessary tests ‘priority,’ will be covered

LaGrange said on Monday the province wants “to protect the public system” in dictating which tests can be accessed privately. She said she expects details of which tests may be included will be determined by the fall.

She said that medically necessary tests would still be publicly covered and will always get priority.

“We want to improve capacity, and you have to look at making sure that those private clinics that come on board add to the capacity of the overall system,” LaGrange told media on Monday. “We want to make sure that those that are in queue right now are able to get the work and the testing that is required.”

Critics and public health-care advocates have said the plan risks dragging the province further into a two-tiered system, siphoning critical staff from public hospitals and exacerbating lengthy wait times in the public system.

Safeguards needed: public health advocates

In an October statement, the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors, said the government’s move may improve access and reduce wait times for some, but said it needs to be paired with safeguards to avoid unnecessary testing and further strain on followup services.

Opposition NDP health critic Sharif Haji echoed that concern Monday, saying once a patient gets third-party results, they will still need someone to interpret them and follow up with care, adding to pressure on the public system.

“The ones who will be first in line are the ones who will be paying out of pocket,” he said.

The advocacy group Friends of Medicare said existing privatization of diagnostic services, such as MRI and CT imaging, has already put pressure on publicly delivered services and contributed to lengthening wait times in the province.

Chris Gallaway, executive director of the group, said the legislation won’t help, calling it “nothing more than legislated queue jumping.”

Bill 29 will also lead to changes allowing pharmacists to stock certain prescription medications for addiction treatment. LaGrange said people needing such medication in rural and Indigenous communities often don’t have quick enough access to it.

“Now, if (pharmacists) can keep a small controlled amount on site, they can access it easier and make it available to their patients right away.”

With files from Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press