CALGARY – The war of words between the Tory government and the province’s doctors continued Tuesday as Premier Alison Redford linked a hike in physician compensation with a return of provincial health-care premiums.
Redford said both are out of the question, but maintained doctors’ pay could only be boosted with a massive increase in revenue from taxpayers.
But the head of the Alberta Medical Association said he’s “flabbergasted” by Redford’s comments and questioned whether the premier is trying to derail contract negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Redford raised the issue of health-care premiums and doctor remuneration herself when asked about topics of discussion at this Saturday’s Alberta economic summit.
“We have made it very clear that we are not going to introduce a health-care premium,” she said.
“We simply have a revenue issue this year. I want to make it clear to Albertans that if we were to even consider increases for doctors, the only way that we would ever be able to find more money to pay doctors would be to do something like introduce a health-care premium.”
Then premier Ed Stelmach scrapped the province’s health-care levy in 2008. The government’s online budget tool says that to bring in $1 billion in revenue now, single Albertans would pay a health-care premium of $480 annually, while couples and families would pay $960.
With the Progressive Conservative government projecting a revenue shortfall of about $6 billion in the upcoming budget year from discounted prices for Alberta conventional oil and bitumen, Redford has been targeting doctors’ pay as the government looks to trim costs.
But AMA president Dr. Michael Giuffre said the premier’s math connecting doctor compensation to health-care premiums doesn’t add up.
“One can only conclude she’s desperately looking for a scapegoat and feels physicians are most vulnerable because they’re in negotiations,” said the Calgary pediatric cardiologist.
According to Giuffre, the physicians’ association is asking for one per cent above inflation for the past two years they haven’t had a contract — amounting to 2.5- and 2.5-per-cent hikes, as contained in a deal the province agreed to, then withdrew, last March.
That one per cent above inflation equals $25 million, he said.
“We’re going to start health-care premiums to generate $1 billion to pay $25 million? The numbers don’t make sense,” Giuffre said.
“The analogy would be if she said: ‘I have to start a sales tax in Alberta to pay MLAs their salary.’ It doesn’t make any kind of economic or numerical sense to anyone. It’s another example of using misleading numbers, and we’re not quite sure why.”
The government currently allocates about $3.5 billion a year for fees and other payments for doctors.
While the AMA and the province are trying to reach a new agreement by mid-March, negotiations to replace the contract that expired in 2011 have grown increasingly antagonistic.
Redford and Health Minister Fred Horne have said several times that Alberta doctors are paid 20 to 29 per cent more than physicians elsewhere in the country.
The AMA said the province is using outdated statistics to mislead the public, and that salaries are actually 14 per cent higher than the national average.
The physicians’ association noted that average wages among other industries in Alberta are 20 per cent higher than the national average, while the province’s politicians are also highly paid.
At $156,311, Alberta MLA salaries are second only to Quebec among the provinces, after a legislature committee in November hiked RRSP benefits.
But Redford bristled at that comparison Tuesday, noting that doctors’ salaries make up about 8.5 per cent of the provincial budget.
“The contrast to that, the entire budget of the legislative assembly, that’s everything ... is .03 per cent. So when we start talking about political salaries versus doctors’ salaries, let’s understand we’re comparing apples to oranges,” she said.
Wildrose health critic Heather Forsyth said Redford’s comments were a “beyond ridiculous” attempt to deflect the blame from her government for mishandling the province’s finances and negotiations with doctors.
“Albertans aren’t that stupid,” she said. “They see what she’s trying to do.”
Forsyth said the premier should be keeping quiet rather than trying to goad physicians.
“Let’s be fair about the negotiations. Let’s get back to the table, take it off the front page of the newspaper and let’s talk like adults,” she said.
The Edmonton Journal