MOHLTC's Proposal for New Reimbursement Plan for Physician Services
Hey fellow medical students!
Your Ontario Medical Students’ Association (OMSA) team here! With
the holidays fast approaching, receiving information about the
ongoing issues between the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and
the government can be overwhelming and difficult to decipher - we
feel the same way! We are working hard to make information on
recent events available for you in a transparent and concise way,
and we are truly interested in hearing your opinions and views on
what is happening so we can best represent all of you.
The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (Ministry)
presented a proposal for a new reimbursement plan for physician
services on December 14th. The OMA was not consulted
during the proposal development and, although the Ministry has
expressed interest in engaging with the OMA going forward, the
proposed plan is not up for negotiation. The Ministry’s absence
of meaningful consultation risks further erosion of its
relationship with the medical profession.
So where does this leave us medical students? Well, we
are worried about the impact this development could have on our
education. The OMA has not ruled out job action in
response to the proposal. Job action typically refers to
employees taking measures to disrupt normal workflow to put
pressure on employers and/or the government. In other industries
this can mean a withdrawal of services while the workforce is on
strike. Although it is unclear what job action might look like
for the medical profession, it could potentially disrupt medical
education with respect to clerkship supervision and access to
clinical teaching opportunities. We want to do what we
can to prevent this, so OMSA is reaching out to the parties
involved to explore safeguards that would minimize any
disruptions to students’ quality of
education.
We will provide more detailed information about the Ministry
proposal and potential job action in our next communique and in
the new year. In the meantime, we invite you to share
your thoughts, questions or concerns with us so we can continue
to do our best to represent you!
How? Contact your friendly neighbourhood VP External to
relay your comments to OMSA, or contact our Director of
Representation directly at representation@omsa.ca.
Wishing you best of luck on your remaining exams and the happiest
of holidays!
Ali Damji, OMSA Chair
Justin Cottrell, OMSA Co-Chair
Lauren Crosby, OMSA Director of Representation