Thread by @Norlaine

So, to recap... Gov't of Alberta tore up the contract with the province's doctors and wants to reduce fees. Claims AB doctors are overpaid and doing fraudulent billing... #AbLeg #Abhealth 1/12
cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

AB doctors asked the government to allow them to bill for meeting with their patients virtually instead of coming into offices and spreading virus. 2/12

AB Gov't reinstated billing code 03.01AD, which was created during the H1N1 epidemic. But they kept the 10+ year old rate of $20 per call. 3/12

The doctors say $20 is not enough. They say they will not be able to pay staff or other overhead. 4/12

Then the gov't starts promoting an app they have contracted with Telus for so patients can call and talk to some random doctor somewhere. 5/12

This seems bad for a number of reasons. One being the limitations of a doctor who does not know the patient's medical history... 6/12

Furthermore, if doctors cannot make ends meet here they will stop practicing here and we will be left with telehealth. 7/12

The obvious solution, of course, is to increase the billing rate for virtual care where people can "see" their own doctor. 8/12

And then another wrinkle was added... Turns out Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro and his wife are co-owners of a company that provides businesses with health benefits for employees. 9/12

Yes, the ethics commissioner was consulted and approved this. This is the really puzzling thing, because there certainly is an appearance of conflict of interest. Their company website even discussed telemedicine before the app was unveiled. 10/12

The company contracting doctors to work on the phones is called Babylon. It is a London, UK company, heavily funded by Saudi Arabia. Who has questions? I know I do. 11/12
cnbc.com/2019/08/02/sau…

So, where are our journalists? Why have I not heard or seen a single news story about this? @CBCCalgary @CBCEdmonton What are you folks doing? 12/12
#WhereAreOurJournalists