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Province encouraging Alberta Doctors to see more patients by lifting daily cap
Improving Albertans’ access to doctors
To help increase patient access to physicians, there will no longer be a daily cap on the number of visits a physician can fully bill.
During the negotiations with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), Alberta’s government heard that Alberta’s doctors could safely see more patients than the current cap allowed.
Albertans want to know that they can see a doctor when they need one, and physicians want to be able to provide Albertans with the health-care services they need. By changing the daily cap policy, some of the immediate pressures for services provided by general practitioners and specialists, including pediatricians and ophthalmologists, will be addressed. By lifting the cap, physicians will be fully compensated for every visit rather than receiving a discounted rate if they provide more than 50 visit services in one day, which is the current practice.
“We’re moving forward to implement the new agreement, starting with ending the daily visit services cap policy and working to put rate increases in place. We’ve heard from some physicians that the daily visit cap was having a negative impact on patient access, so this change addresses those concerns. It is also part of the new agreement with the AMA where we are listening to physicians and working with them as partners moving forward.”
“The AMA agreement allows physicians and government to work together on challenges facing patients and physicians in the health-care system. This early step to remove the services cap is an important example that will allow more physicians to care for more patients while helping to stabilize physician practices.”
Lump sum payment
The agreement between the AMA and the province also includes a one per cent rate increase in each of the next three years and a one per cent recognition lump sum payment in 2022-23.
Alberta physicians were at the forefront of the pandemic and the one-time payment for eligible practising physicians is in recognition of that work during the 2021-22 fiscal year. This lump sum payment is approximately $45 million and will go to the AMA to distribute to their members by the end of 2022.
In addition to the lump sum payment, the government is working with the AMA to implement the one per cent rate increase for 2022-23. The increase applies to fee-for-service and alternative relationship plan rates, providing an additional $46 million to physicians.
As outlined in the AMA agreement, the rate increase is heavily weighted to specialties facing the greatest pressures, such as family medicine. Alberta’s government and the AMA are working together to distribute these increases across and within specialties. Increases will be effective April 1, 2022, and are expected to be finalized by March 31, 2023.
Quick facts
- The daily visit services cap policy was introduced as part of the Physician Funding Framework in 2020.
- The intent of the policy was to support quality patient care by reducing physician burnout while addressing fiscal constraint for the province.
- It applies to all physician services that are defined in the Schedule of Medical Benefits (SOMB) as “visits” with a “V” category code that physicians provide to patients in person, including physician office visits, consultations and counselling services. Procedures and tests that physicians provide are not billed as visits.
- Under the current policy, physicians are compensated 100 per cent for up to 50 visit services billings in a day, 50 per cent for between 51 and 65 visit services, and there is no compensation for visit services billings greater than 66.
- Physicians working in rural and remote areas, hospital visits and virtual care are exempt from the current policy.
- The policy change (to lift the cap) aligns Alberta with most other jurisdictions.
- Alberta Health is working on updating the SOMB and billing system to operationalize this change. A Medical Bulletin and a new SOMB will be posted when information technology changes are complete.
- The daily visit services cap policy change will be reviewed and its impacts assessed before determining the future policy beyond the current fiscal year.
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UK Government And Media Spread Disinformation About Southport Killer, Evidence Suggests
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer answers questions during a press conference following clashes after the Southport stabbing on August 1, 2024. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
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UK police now say that the alleged killer possessed an al-Qaeda training manual and a deadly biological toxin
The riots in England this summer were motivated by far-right Islamophobia and driven by disinformation online, argued the UK media and government at the time. In July and August, social media posts claimed that a Muslim migrant was responsible for a mass stabbing in the seaside town of Southport. Those claims were false, according to officials and fact-checkers.
The riots began after a 17-year-old named Axel Rudakubana allegedly stabbed to death three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop. Rudakubana was born in the UK and raised Christian, the media reported. The rioters, said Prime Minister Keir Starmer, were “far-right thugs” seeking to exploit the tragedy and “target people because of the color of their skin.”
But it now appears that the UK government may have deliberately spread disinformation and used it to justify censorship and repression. Police yesterday issued new charges under the Terrorism Act against Rudakubana, now 18, for allegedly producing ricin, a biological toxin, and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual titled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants.” Since police arrested Rudakubana at the scene of the stabbings, it’s likely they searched his home shortly after, and thus may have discovered the ricin and manual within hours of the attack.
Ricin is a protein toxin derived from the castor bean plant and has no known antidotes. The terrorism charges identify the al-Qaeda training manual as “of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.” Although the police stated that the case is not yet classified as a “terrorist incident,” these new charges suggest that radical Islamism motivated the attack, contradicting authorities’ previous narrative.
“It is not plausible for the police, Home Secretary, Prime Minister not to have known about the suspect’s background until this week,” said conservative Member of Parliament and former Home Secretary, Dame Priti Patel, in a statement to The Telegraph. “This detail would have materialized within 2-3 days of such a devastating and serious incident with the entire security apparatus focusing on finding answers to key questions.
Mourners gather for the funeral of a nine-year-old victim of a knife attack in Southport on August 11, 2024 (left); Axel Rudakubana, Southport stabbing suspect (center); Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street on August 1, 2024 (right). [Getty Images and Liverpool Crown Court drawing]…
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Canadian man euthanized after COVID shot injuries
From LifeSiteNews
An Ontario man in his late 40s has been euthanized after doctors diagnosed him with ‘post COVID-19 vaccination syndrome’ following three COVID jabs, which caused him to suffer ‘severe functional decline.’
An Ontario man has been granted euthanasia for “post COVID-19 vaccination syndrome.”
According to an October report by the National Post, an anonymous Ontario man in his late 40s has been euthanized after doctors determined his COVID shot injuries qualified him for assisted suicide or “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD) under Canada’s euthanasia regime.
“Amongst his multiple specialists, no unifying diagnosis was confirmed,” the reports issued by a 16-member MAiD death review committee found.
Nevertheless, the doctors “opined that the most reasonable diagnosis for Mr. A’s clinical presentation (severe functional decline) was a post-vaccine syndrome, in keeping with chronic fatigue syndrome.”
The man experienced “suffering and functional decline” following three doses of the experimental COVID shots.
He also suffered from a slew of mental illnesses, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and personality disorders. He was admitted to the hospital twice “while navigating his physical symptoms” with thoughts of suicide.
He was eventually diagnosed “post COVID-19 vaccination syndrome,” which is not currently include in Canada’s current vaccine reporting system. Notably, Canada’s program to compensate those injured by the so-called “safe and effective” COVID shots has now spent $14 million, but the vast majority of claims remain unpaid.
His death is further complicated by the fact that multiple specialists failed to agree on his diagnosis, with many questioning if his condition met the criteria for an “irremediable” condition, which is required to seek euthanasia in Canada. Many also questioned if his mental health disqualified him from undergoing assisted suicide.
The man’s death is considered “Track 2,” part of a group who are not “terminally ill” and whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.
Dr. Sonu Gaind, a psychiatrist and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, revealed that he is troubled “by almost everything in this report.”
“I think we have gone so far over the line with Track 2 that people cannot even see the line that we’ve crossed,” said Gaind.
“It’s pretty clear that some providers are going up to that line, and maybe beyond it,” Gaind said.
As LifeSiteNews previously reported, internal information has revealed that Canadian doctors are questioning the morality of euthanizing vulnerable and impoverished patients who are choosing death because of poverty and loneliness.
During his time in office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have worked to expand assisted suicide 13-fold since it was legalized, making Canada’s euthanasia program the fastest growing in the world.
Currently, wait times to receive actual health care in Canada have increased to an average of 27.7 weeks, leading some Canadians to despair and opt for euthanasia instead of waiting for genuine assistance. At the same time, sick and elderly Canadians who have refused to end their lives via “MAiD” have reported being called “selfish” by their providers.
The most recent reports show that euthanasia is the sixth highest cause of death in Canada. However, it was not listed as such in Statistics Canada’s top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022.
When asked why it was left off the list, the agency said that it records the illnesses that led Canadians to choose to end their lives via euthanasia, not the actual cause of death, as the primary cause of death.
According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injections. This accounts for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year, a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.
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