Quebec doctors vow to fight Bill 106, patients question whether it will help

The proposed legislation changes how specialists and family doctors will be paid based on each patient.

Doctor Michael Kalin says he sees around 40 patients every day. Under Bill 106, he will have to care for more people or face penalties up to 25 per cent.

“This is like saying to a hockey team, we’re going to take away your goalie, but let in fewer goals. It is not reasonable,” said Kalin, the medical director at GMF Santé Kildare.

The proposed legislation changes how specialists and family doctors will be paid. It’s a shift towards paying them a fixed amount for each patient.

“A healthy patient is worth $12, and when you come to the doctor, the doctor will get paid a bonus of $18 to see you. That’s all you’re worth,” Kildare told CTV News.

Bill 106 aims to improve access to medical care. The CAQ government is promising to pair all Quebecers with at least a family medicine group by 2026. This comes after it fell short on giving everyone a family doctor.

Patients need doctors, but also quality care, says MUHC Patients Committee chair Ingrid Kovitch.

“What the government should be doing is exploring the reasons why we are in the pickle that we are in and maybe examining and rectifying those as opposed to beating doctors over the head with other antagonistic legislation.” She adds

“That is only going to make things worse for all patients in the end.”

At least 400 more family doctors are needed in Montreal, and those practicing are aging. Twenty five per cent of doctors are over 60 years old.

Kalin says the government is driving them away.

“These doctors are now retiring imminently because we are driving them away with further rules,” he says.

Kalin fears Bill 106 won’t solve anything. He’s pleading with the government to head back to the negotiation table, to come up with something more than what he calls a band-aid solution.