Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ digital
    • Subscribe to CMAJ print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ digital
    • Subscribe to CMAJ print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
News and analysis

BC doctor seeks class-action suit over payment for uninsured patients

CMAJ October 31, 2000 163 (9) 1184;
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

An emergency physician who used to practise in British Columbia is suing the provincial government for nonpayment of services he provided to uninsured patients. Dr. James Halvorson has also applied to have his case certified as a class-action suit, which has the potential to involve many more of the province's doctors. A decision is expected soon.

Halvorson's lawyer, Sandy Kovacs, says the lawsuit requests that the case date to 1984, when the Canada Health Act was enacted. Kovacs estimates BC physicians have lost $140 million since then because they weren't paid for providing care to uninsured patients. Before 1996, medical insurance for BC residents was cancelled if premiums were in arrears for more than 3 months; physicians lost about $10 million a year because of nonpaid treatment provided to these deinsured patients. After 1996, changes were made to cover people for up to a year after they fell into arrears. Kovacs estimates that about $5 million a year is owing to physicians for uninsured services provided since then. BC and Alberta are the only provinces charging medical insurance premiums. In BC, premiums cost $64 monthly for families with 2 children.

About 40 000 of BC's 4 million residents are currently unregistered. Nonpayment of premiums doesn't limit a person's health coverage “in any way,” says Jeff Gaulin, a government spokesperson. The government tries to trace unregistered people; if there is no contact for a year, they are assumed to have left the province.

Emergency physicians are affected most. At St. Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver, which serves many homeless people who have no insurance, emergency doctors opted for a service contract 10 years ago to cover uninsured patients' billings.

Dr. Jane Goundrey, head anesthetist at the Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, says the problem of uncompensated, on-call work is “infrequent but annoying.” These patients often arrive with nonemergency complaints during evenings or weekends, she said. Recently, surgery was delayed for a patient with a fractured ankle after doctors discovered that his medical insurance had lapsed. Goundrey defends the action: “There was at least a 3-day period in which the surgery could be performed safely, so there was plenty of time for the patient to apply for benefits.” — Heather Kent, Vancouver

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

CMAJ
Vol. 163, Issue 9
31 Oct 2000
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
BC doctor seeks class-action suit over payment for uninsured patients
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
BC doctor seeks class-action suit over payment for uninsured patients
CMAJ Oct 2000, 163 (9) 1184;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
BC doctor seeks class-action suit over payment for uninsured patients
CMAJ Oct 2000, 163 (9) 1184;
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Gene mutation may explain multiple-birth pregnancies
  • Greening of health care goal of new coalition
  • More medical students for Dalhousie
Show more News and Analysis

Similar Articles

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire