Alberta doctors eye vote in fall on thorny pay issue

The organization representing Alberta’s 10,000-plus doctors says it hopes to have its members vote this fall on a plan to achieve income fairness, which could potentially see lower-paid physicians receive additional compensation at the expense of higher-paid specialists.

A meeting of Alberta Medical Association leaders on the weekend decided to carry on with the contentious “income equity” initiative, but declined to commit to specific dates to begin implementation.

AMA president Dr. Neil Cooper said delegates decided it was best to wait until more information was collected before scheduling a ratification vote for members.

Those studies are expected to be complete by the fall, which should give family physicians, specialists and other medical groups enough data to determine how the initiative might affect their pay.

The initiative stems from feelings that certain specialty groups earn a disproportionate share of $5.2 billion in provincial funding, while family doctors and others remain undervalued. The government has said there is little new money to pay doctors, meaning any increase for certain groups will have to come from rebalancing existing funds.

The AMA decided last year to explore a way of doing just that.

High-earning specialists have taken the step of hiring lawyers, who submitted a legal opinion that the AMA doesn’t have the authority to proceed with income equity.

Some lower-income physicians countered that they don’t expect to be paid like specialists, but feel the disparity has grown too great.