Government reviewing $5 fee to book spot in clinic lineup
The B.C. government is reviewing whether an online app is violating the ban on extra billing by charging patients to book a spot in line at walk-in medical clinics.
The app, called MediMap, shows up-to-date waiting times for walk-in clinics in dozens of towns and cities across Canada, free of charge.
But for a $5 fee, patients have the option to reserve a place in line at participating clinics.
Blake Adam, the co-founder of MediMap, said in an On the Island interview that by paying the fee, "you can request to get your name on the wait list without actually having to travel down to the clinic."
"It was something that a number of the clinics asked us for because of the convenience it would offer the patients and then the efficiency of course of keeping people out of the waiting room," Adam said.
Response to the $5 wait-list booking service, which was introduced in early 2017 has been positive, he said.
The B.C. Ministry of Health issued a statement in response saying it was aware of the $5 lineup reservations offered by MediMap and it is being reviewed by the province's Medical Services Commission.
Extra-billing concerns
"It appears that this may be an extra-billing violation under the Medicare Protection Act," the ministry statement said. "We will let the Commission do their work. Everyone has the right to medically-necessary, publicly-funded health care, based on need not ability to pay."
Adam said he is confident the fee does not violate the extra-billing ban because it is not charging for an insured medical service and people can still get on the wait list to see a clinic doctor by phone or by going to the clinic.
If the fee is disallowed, he said, the company will have to find another way to generate revenue and finance operations of its free service of publishing wait times at walk-in clinics.
