State and territory health plans will cover primary care provided by nurses, pharmacists and midwives from next year, Federal Health Minister Mark Holland announced on Friday.
Mr. Holland said regulated health care workers who are not doctors will be able to bill the government for medically necessary services that doctors would provide.
The minister said the changes are part of a new interpretation of the Canada Health Act that will take effect on April 1, 2026, and will allow some patients, including some private nurses, to pay for the care they need. He pointed out that this measure was necessary because they were paying out of pocket. clinic.
Holland said charging patients for these services is inconsistent with universal health care, and instead nurses should be able to bill the health system in the same way as doctors.
The Netherlands issued the directive in an “interpretive letter” sent to the health minister on Thursday, amending the health care providers covered by Canada’s health care system. Open to the public on Friday morning.
In an interview Thursday night, Holland said he was “deeply concerned” about patients being charged public health fees.
“That is certainly against the spirit of the Canada Health Act, and this interpretation letter will stop that from happening,” he said.
The new policy also “empowers” medical professionals other than doctors to provide any care they are eligible for, Holland said.
Nurses in particular could help relieve pressure on primary care physicians and the health care system as a whole, he said.
“To increase access to needed care, the scope of practice of many regulated health professionals (e.g. nurses, pharmacists, midwives) has expanded to make best use of their abilities, knowledge and skills. Yes,” Holland wrote. It said this in a letter to state and territory counterparts.
He said the changes would be implemented in states and territories through the federal government’s health transfer benefit, which could be deducted if patients were billed for medically necessary treatment. It is said that there is.
Private clinic owners say nurses cannot claim OHIP, so they have no choice but to bill patients.
Michelle Acorn, CEO of the Ontario Nurses Association, called the move “an important victory.”
“This really represents the culmination of years of advocacy work,” Acorn said in an interview Friday.
“We have worked hard and advocated to ensure timely and accessible health care to ensure no one is left behind.”
Acorn said some nurses have had to “reluctantly” bill patients because they can’t bill the government for their time.
The association notes that nearly half of Canada’s nurses reside in Ontario, and the change will impact about 30 nurse-led clinics that already receive funding from the Ontario government. He said he did not expect it to be given.
Mr Holland said it would take a long time for people other than doctors to be able to bill the government for medical care, but it was needed so states and territories could coordinate their health insurance plans.
Sylvia Jones, spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Health, said in an emailed statement Friday that the We are considering measures to take.”
Between nurses and doctors, the state will “connect every person in the state to a primary care provider over the next five years,” a spokesperson said.
The Dutch directive comes nearly two years after his predecessor, Jean-Yves Duclos, expressed concerns about patients paying for medically necessary treatment out of pocket in a letter to ministers. It was done.
In that March 9, 2023 letter, Mr. Duclos promised to revise the interpretation of the Canada Health Act to prevent that from happening.
Last September, Physicians for Medicare Canada sent a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office asking when that “long-awaited” interpretation would be released.
The group’s chair, Dr. Melanie Bechard, says this will help “ensure that all Canadians receive medically necessary care based on need, not ability or willingness to pay.” said.
“The shift from episodic care provided virtually by doctors to long-term care provided by nurses (and other types of providers) began in 1984 with the passage of the Canada Health Act. This was not expected,” Bechard wrote.
“Making clear that medically necessary virtual care and nurse practitioner care must be publicly funded would be consistent with the spirit and intent of the Canada Health Act.”
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The Dutch government said the delay was due to ongoing consultations with state and territory governments over the past two years.
Duclos also identified virtual care and telemedicine as areas where some patients may be paying inappropriately out-of-pocket.
Holland said billing for virtual care is not addressed in the current directive, but remains a concern that he is discussing with state officials.
“If you go into a clinic, which is a physical clinic, or if you go into a virtual clinic, both of those should be covered by the Canada Health Act,” he said.
