Negotiations with the FMOQ and the FMSQ: Quebec wants to control doctors’ envelopes

Minister Dubé played an important card on Friday in negotiations with doctors: Quebec is seeking to control up to 40% of their salary envelope, compared to barely 5% currently, in order to determine which acts will be better paid.

“At the moment, with the way previous governments had given control over the envelopes, we have nothing to say about ‘who does what’ with this money,” lamented the Minister of Health at the point of press.

Management is left “completely to the management of the two unions” which represent specialists and general practitioners, affirms Christian Dubé.

By having control over the envelopes, Quebec hopes to be able to impose differentiated rates, according to needs.

“So that, for example, certain specialties are better paid [et] let us take the money from other specialties which are probably overpaid,” explained the minister.

At the same time, Quebec wants to be able to ensure that it demands “results associated with our requests”.

Home care, delays in seeing a specialist or waiting time to meet a family doctor could be among the indicators monitored. “It’s normal that we pay someone differently, a doctor, who is going to travel to go to an RPA or to go to a CHSLD,” illustrates Christian Dubé.

“The fees will be based on results,” he adds. It’s a big change. It never happened.”

Currently, with control over only 5% of the envelope, the situation is “ridiculous”, believes the minister. “Could we have control over 30%, 40% of the envelope? I think that’s what we’re talking about,” says Christian Dubé.

Tough negotiations ahead

A few minutes after the minister’s exit, the Federation of Specialist Physicians of Quebec reacted with a scathing message towards him.

“We don’t have time to respond to the Minister of Health’s comments: we have more important things to do,” wrote the federation on the X platform. The message was accompanied by a photo of the president of the FMSQ, Dr. Vincent Oliva, in the operating room at the CHUM.

The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, for its part, had not commented at the time of publication.

After the question period, Prime Minister François Legault acknowledged that his government is engaged in a tough battle. “It’s not easy to negotiate with doctors’ unions,” he briefly commented.

Christian Dubé, for his part, slipped at a press briefing that these negotiations could be one of his last gestures in politics. “I said I wasn’t here to get re-elected. I am going to take things as they are, I am going to be demanding in the upcoming negotiations because I want to be demanding for Quebecers,” he declared.

Deficit

Furthermore, the minister paid lip service to the fact that resolving the anticipated deficit of $1.5 billion will not happen without problems.

“We are looking at everything to be sure that there will be budgetary rigor and that we will be able to minimize, and I say it, it’s the right word, to minimize the impact on services “, he said.

The minister nevertheless sought to put into perspective the scale of the amount to be collected, on a budget which is around $60 billion.