You may be wondering when to expect fee-for-service changes. Several fee changes and increases are outstanding from the 2019 Physician Master Agreement (PMA) with many more pending from the 2022 PMA.
The fee value increases resulting from the 2021/22 general fee increases (resulting from the 2019 PMA) are expected to be implemented in the coming weeks. You can expect to receive a retroactive payment at that time for dates of service back to April 1, 2021.
Increases from the 2019 PMA
In the 2019 PMA, there was only a 0.5% annual general fee increase. This small amount then had to be allocated to all the family medicine fee codes, both for those family doctors providing longitudinal family medicine and all other areas of family medicine practice (e.g. addiction medicine, surgical assists, women’s health, inpatient care, long-term care).
While BC Family Doctors has wanted to substantively increase fees for all aspects of family medicine care, it was impossible to do – as the dollars required to do this far exceeded the small amount of funding available. Given that nearly every aspect of family medicine care is undervalued in fee-for-service, significant new funding was required to increase fee-for-service codes for family doctors. As a result, we focused our efforts on advocating for larger compensation increases for family doctors coming out of the 2022 PMA.
Increases from the 2022 PMA
The 2022 PMA provides $703 million per year of new ongoing funding for both compensation increases and other priorities. It delivers on BC Family Doctors’ priorities based on what you told us you needed.
- Increases for fee-for-service codes
- Cost of living allowances
- New funding for FPSC fees
- Increases for Business Cost Premium
- New funding for JSC to address rural business costs
- Increases for tray fees
- Increases for service contracts, salary agreements, and sessional rates
- Increases in funding for the LFP Payment Model
You can read an implementation update from Doctors of BC about the Business Cost Premium and Evening Operative Surcharge Fee (01210).
You can read a fulsome overview of how the PMA affects family doctors here.
As MSP and Health Insurance BC (HIBC), the administrator of MSP payments, clear the backlog of fee changes resulting from the 2019 PMA, we will be able to accelerate our work to improve fee-for-service codes for family doctors.
Please reach out to Rachel, our Billing & Economics Program Manager, with any questions.