Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced mandatory Canada Health Transfer (CHT) deductions totalling over $82 million in respect of patient charges levied during 2020-2021, for medically necessary services that should be accessible to patients at no cost. This includes the first deductions taken under the Diagnostic Services Policy (DSP), totalling over $76 million for patient charges levied for medically necessary diagnostic imaging services. An additional $6 million was also deducted for other patient charges including those levied for insured services provided at private surgical clinics and for access to insured abortion services.
A breakdown of the deduction amounts are as follows:
| Provinces | Deductions under the DSP | Other deductions | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | $17,165,309 | $5,945,221 | $23,110,530 |
| Alberta | $13,781,152 | $13,781,152 | |
| Saskatchewan | $742,447 | $742,447 | |
| Manitoba | $353,827 | $353,827 | |
| Ontario | NA | $32,800 | $32,800 |
| Quebec | $41,867,224 | $41,867,224 | |
| New Brunswick | $1,277,659 | $64,850 | $1,342,509 |
| Nova Scotia | $1,277,659 | $1,277,659 | |
| Total | $76,465,277 | $6,042,871 | $82,508,148 |
Under the CHA's Reimbursement Policy, mandatory CHT deductions may be reimbursed provided the province or territory implicated carries out a Reimbursement Action Plan to eliminate the patient charges and the circumstances that led to them. Full reimbursement (if all patient charges have been eliminated) or partial reimbursement (if some, but not all, patient charges have been eliminated), can occur anytime up to two years after the original deduction was made.
Through this process, a reimbursement of $15,556,669 to British Columbia under the CHA Reimbursement Policy has been made. This amount represents a partial reimbursement of its March 2021, March 2022 and March 2023 deductions.
