Copeman decision - nurses want a full accounting
In a letter to George Abbott, Debra McPherson asks exactly how the Medical Services Commission conducted its investigation and reached its dubious conclusions
The BC Nurses' Union wants a full accounting of exactly how the provincial government investigated the fee-based Copeman Health Centre, and how it concluded the Centre isn't violating the laws of medicare, even though it charges an initial membership fee of $3,900, and annual fees of $2,900 thereafter.
In a letter to Health Minister George Abbott, union president Debra McPherson asks a series of specific questions into how the Medical Services Commission carried out its review.
The letter cites disturbing, new information revealed this week by TheTyee.ca. The on-line news source reported that physicians at the Centre are fully enrolled in the Medical Services Plan and billed MSP a total of almost $500,000 last year for medicare-insured services.
Further, when the writer sought an appointment with a Copeman medicare-paid physician, a Copeman receptionist told him that non-members must pay a visit fee of $175.
"Minister, given this information it is impossible to understand how a meaningful investigation of the Copeman Centre could have reached the conclusions it did," McPherson wrote.
Her questions to Abbott include:
- How many site visits did the Medical Services Commission or its agents carry out in the conduct of its investigation?
- What measures did the Commission take to determine whether members of the public, who have not paid annual fees to join the Copeman Centre, may access services provided by physicians at the centre who are enrolled in MSP and are billing medicare for providing insured services to members?
- To what extent did the Commission carry out unannounced inspections of the Copeman facility?
- What sources of information did the Commission seek beyond interviewing the principals and staff of the Copeman Centre?
- What additional expertise in such investigations did the Commission seek?
Because the government has refused to release details of the decision, the public can't evaluate it or have any confidence in its validity, McPherson says.
BCNU is currently appealing the heavy-editing of materials previously released by the government under a Freedom of Information request into the lawfulness of Copeman Centre activities. The union has also filed an FOI request for the recent review.
McPherson says "the conclusions reached by the Medical Services Commission in this matter represent an ominous threat to the integrity of public medicare in this province.
"Public health care is based on the principle that publicly-insured services are available to all members of the public without the requirement to pay additional fees. Any organization that employs physicians who are enrolled in medicare and requires patients to pay membership fees are violating the laws of medicare, specifically BC's Medicare Protection Act."
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