The Medical Services Commission of British Columbia and Telus Health have reached a settlement regarding Telus’s LifePlus program.
Under the program Telus allegedly was charging membership fees to patients in return for to get priority access to a family doctor.
In February, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix asked the commission, which oversees the Medical Services Plan, to review private fee-based services offered by Telus Health Care Centres to ensure there’s no queue-jumping for patients who pay the fee, which isn’t allowed under the Canada Health Act.
The Medical Services Commission applied for an injunction to stop. The Medical Services Commission and Telus Health have now reached a settlement regarding LifePlus program.
Telus Health has worked with the commission and committed to make agreed-upon operational changes to its LifePlus program to ensure its compliance with the Medicare Protection Act. As a result of the pending modifications to the LifePlus program, the commission has suspended its pursuit of an injunction.
“We are pleased with the collaborative efforts between the Medical Services Commission and Telus Health to reach a settlement that upholds the principles of the Medicare Protection Act,” said Dr. Robert Halpenny, chair of the Medical Services Commission. “Telus’s commitment to amending its LifePlus program helps maintain the integrity of public health care in British Columbia.”
The settlement addresses concerns raised by the commission in its petition for injunction filed on Dec. 1, 2022, and ensures compliance with the Medicare Protection Act.
The injunction application was filed to prevent Telus Health from contravening Section 17 of the act by facilitating access, or priority access, to Medical Services Plan benefits through its LifePlus program.
The commission is committed to upholding the principles of the Medicare Protection Act. This settlement should serve as an indicator to others who may be offering expensive patient-funded health-care programs, that charging for access, or priority access, to medically necessary health care will be investigated.
