Bill 11, which will be adopted on May 23, aims to facilitate Quebecers’ access to a health professional by providing 500,000 appointments per year. What do you need to know? The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, explains everything in an interview with Quebec Morning.
First of all, the main objective is to “ensure that more vulnerable patients are the priority of doctors”. Upon receiving feedback from doctors, the government adjusted to reduce paperwork and increase efficiency, explains Mr. Dubé.
Subsequently, the second objective is to “ensure that we, the managers, have access to data to understand the offer in the GMFs,” he specifies. […] We were not able to connect supply and demand. Now, with the GAP, I am able to know the demand.
The Minister of Health explains that there are greater issues in certain regions. “With the intersection of data, supply and demand, we will be able to meet the needs of patients,” he adds.
The Quebec government wants to make 500,000 meetings per year, which leaves room for other meetings, hence the importance of working on several projects, in order to understand supply and demand, explains Mr. Dubé.
Nearly 300,000 people call GAP every week. “What is important, do I have the offer to respond to that?”, he adds. The aim is to “eliminate red tape”, but also “to better understand the relationship between supply and demand”.
Eliminate paperwork imposed by private insurance companies
According to the bill, private insurers will no longer be able to require sick people to obtain a medical prescription to obtain reimbursement for a consultation. 4 million Quebecers have a private insurer. “90% of insurance companies did not require a doctor’s note for specific needs. […] We had to find a solution for the 10%. So we banned it. Just for this act, that’s 400,000 fewer appointments. It’s the relationship between the insurer and the employer,” explains Mr. Dubé.
Tickets signed by a doctor at school could also disappear. “I would have liked to do it in the same bill […] But here, let’s sort out what we can do as quickly as possible. I have committed to doing this by the end of the session or the start of the session […] It’s in our sights, we’re working on it,” he informs.
When will we feel a difference?
“What I can’t wait to say to Quebecers, when I have access to the data, in the coming weeks is: ‘there are 10,000 requests which I am not capable of responding to. Should I reduce paperwork or increase supply in certain regions?” […] This supply and demand equation seems simple, but it’s important. We need to make sure we have the right offer for all the requests we receive. […] The discussions will be much simpler,” concludes the Minister of Health.
See the full interview with the Minister of Health, above.
