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Gov’t settles class action lawsuit by docs

The B.C. government will pay $7.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit launched 18 years ago on behalf of doctors who treated certain patients but were never paid by the government.
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The B.C. government will pay $7.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit launched 18 years ago on behalf of doctors who treated certain patients but were never paid by the government.

The settlement, reached after mediation, is subject to court approval. It is a far cry from the $100 million that doctors initially imagined when the action began.

The $7.5 million will be reduced by about 30 per cent by legal fees and expenses to class action lawyers for the plaintiffs, including Vancouver lawyer Arthur Grant.

Grant said he expects up to 7,000 doctors could be eligible to share in the proceeds.

The biggest chunk of physicians expected to collect settlement funds are emergency room doctors and plastic surgeons who treated patients at hospitals but were not compensated because those patients were delinquent in paying their Medical Services Plan premiums.

In the early 1990s, the NDP government cancelled health insurance coverage when patients failed to pay their premiums and denied payment to doctors when they treated patients anyway.

The issue came to a head in 1996 when, during an election campaign, a pair of Prince George surgeons announced they would refuse to treat people with fractured jaws and no medical coverage because they knew they wouldn't be paid. The problem was particularly acute there because of a higher frequency of jaw injuries in a city that at the time had a reputation for bar brawls and a high rate (20 per cent) of MSP arrears.

In protest, Dr. Roy Hobbs and Dr. Louis Boileau drafted a letter to government that stated: "Under the present system, you are asking surgeons to operate frequently on fractured jaws and not be paid a cent... few people would consider working for the B.C. government if they were paid on some days and other days were considered as free labour."

Grant said the practice of cutting off people in arrears seemed to proliferate under premier Mike Harcourt. But when the Prince George protest happened, then NDP premier Glen Clark put an end to the practice.

Clark called in his health minister, Andrew Petter, and the decision was made to change course, Grant said. In 1996, the Medicare Protection Act was changed so that MSP coverage wouldn't be cancelled; even in arrears, patients are never denied treatment and doctors are always paid for treating such patients.

Although the practice had been going on for longer, the court approved a time frame of 1992 to 1996 for the class action. It is unclear how much each doctor will get; it will depend on how many apply for compensation.

"The amounts each doctor will get will be nowhere near full compensation but it is recognition they weren't compensated," Grant said, adding that the government will never admit liability even though it is agreeing to a settlement. He said doctors across the province owe thanks to Dr. James Halvorson, the Cowichan District Hospital emergency room doctor who has been the lead plaintiff.

Halvorson launched the lawsuit because he knew there was no other way to recover the fees he and thousands of other doctors were owed. He says he is owed about $100,000 but he isn't expected to get anything close to that amount under the settlement.

"We fought this because these doctors did something important for our province," Grant said, adding that cancelling enrolment of B.C. residents who didn't pay their premiums was against the spirit and laws governing public health care.

"On many occasions, doctors knew they weren't going to be paid for certain patients but they did it because care had to be delivered. It's not the same as pro bono work in the legal field because in that scenario, lawyers are making a choice. In medical emergencies, doctors don't have a choice."

Although enrolment in the medical insurance plan is mandatory for all residents, a segment of the population doesn't bother to enrol. The Ministry of Finance said at least 321,800 MSP accounts were more than three months past due at the end of January. That equated to accrued bad debt of about $500 million. The Medical Services Plan collects about $2 billion in premiums every year.

In the past year, MSP paid out $4 billion in fees to doctors.