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Quebec’s tentative deal with family doctors would do away with penalties tied to performance targets, and roll back several other reforms planned by the provincial government.
The proposed deal would also eliminate a controversial plan to assign patients on a colour-coded system based on their level of vulnerability, and remove all articles in the legislation that would have penalized doctors for not following the reforms.
It would remove the obligation for family doctor groups, known in French as GMFs, to take on the province’s estimated 1.2 million orphaned patients by January 2027.
The deal calls for GMFs to take on 500,000 patients by next June, including 180,000 patients deemed vulnerable. This performance target is voluntary, however, and tied to incentives worth $76 million.
All of these changes are conditional on the acceptance of the agreement in principle by the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) members.
Details of the deal, reached Thursday, were presented to members during webinars Friday morning and obtained by CBC News. Those details were first reported by La Presse.
At the province’s National Assembly, MNAs rushed to adopt one final piece of legislation before taking their winter break — one that postpones the start date of the CAQ’s controversial health reform law. It had caused a bitter, months-long battle with doctors, and details emerging from the government’s tentative deal with family doctors show a Legault government willing to drop many of the law’s most contentious measures.
Government denies backtracking
The changes come after months of pushback against the planned reforms — including an eye-catching protest at the Bell Centre — with many doctors threatening to leave the province and family medicine clinics saying they would have to close.
Pressed by reporters Friday at the National Assembly, Treasury Board President France-Élaine Duranceau rejected the idea that the deal amounted to a retreat.
“In a negotiation, you have to reach an agreement in order to meet in the middle. This requires concessions from both sides,” she said.
“Let me repeat: What we wanted was to change the way doctors are paid. That’s been done. We wanted greater support for Quebecers, and that too is included in the agreement.”
‘Significant change in tone’
Dr. Benoit Heppell, the president of the association of family doctors in the Eastern Townships, summed up his main takeaway from the presentation with one word: Collaboration.
“It seems that we’re going into this collaborative mode with the government,” Heppell told Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin.
“This felt like a significant change in tone and now we have a foundation that feels more sustainable and I hope members will agree.”
Going forward, with a few exceptions, physicians’ compensation would be split as follows: 50 per cent as a fixed amount per patient, 30 per cent fee-for-service and 20 per cent hourly rate.
The agreement also provides a 14.5 per cent increase to the overall compensation envelope for family doctors by 2028, representing $435 million.
The Coalition Avenir Québec government passed legislation Friday delaying the implementation of Bill 2 until Feb. 28. It had been scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.
The bill will be amended with the changes outlined in the agreement if approved by FMOQ members. Results of the vote among doctors is expected to be announced next Friday, Dec. 19.
It remained unclear whether other measures included in Bill 2 would be changed.
The Quebec government has still not reached a deal with the province’s medical specialists, who are also affected by Bill 2. Negotiations between the province are ongoing between the government and the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).
Quebec family physicians have reached a tentative agreement over the government’s controversial legislation that ties doctors’ pay to performance targets. The details haven’t been made public yet.
