Updates

The British Columbia government had announced in April 2018 that it would enforce, for the first time, sections of its provincial health coverage legislation - the Medicare Protection Amendment Act, 2003. Specifically, the government sought to strengthen the ban on extra-billing (that is, charging more for services than the government program covers) by imposing fines on providers who bill patients directly for insured services. This move was motivated by an ongoing court challenge led by Dr. Brian Day, medical director of a private hospital, Cambie Surgical Centre, against the British Columbia government. Day argues that the provincial law that bans extra-billing violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response to the government’s effort to enforce the ban on extra-billing, Dr. Day applied for an injunction to delay the application of the 2003 law, to which the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in Day’s favour in November 2018.  The application of this law banning extra-billing is delayed until June 2019.