Nurses union sues province over 'double-dipping'. The Globe and Mail Wed 31 Oct 2007 Page: S2 Section: British Columbia News Byline: Camille Bains Dateline: VANCOUVER Source: The Canadian Press VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Nurses Union is suing the provincial government for failing to stop doctors from billing the Medical Services Plan for procedures also paid for by patients. The 26,000-member union says some doctors and private clinics are also illegally billing patients for services instead of making a claim under the public system, possibly because that would net them more money than the fee available from the province. But Craig Jones, a lawyer for the Medical Services Commission, told the B.C. Supreme Court yesterday that there are only two cases of so-called double- dipping, in which a doctor has charged the patient and claimed the money from the government. "This is two out of 400 million claims submitted to the Medical Services Commission over the last five years," Mr. Jones told Mr. Justice Stephen Kelleher. However, Marjorie Brown, a lawyer for the nurses' union, said outside court that Health Canada deducted $126,000 from payments to British Columbia for apparent double-dipping cases in 2004 and $5,000 for the year before. "We can infer from this that there were many more cases and that's what we'll be asking the judge to find," Ms. Brown said. The B.C. government didn't challenge Health Canada's actions, Ms. Brown added. She said the union has filed several freedom of information requests in an attempt to get information about the extent of double-billing, but prolonged delays and stacks of blacked-out pages haven't helped. Mr. Jones cited two cases in 2003 involving patients who had medically necessary procedures at two private clinics in Vancouver - the False Creek Surgical Centre and the Pezim Clinic. The two women paid for their surgery - $6,000 in one case - but the doctors also billed the medical system. Neither patient has been reimbursed despite efforts by the Health Ministry. Anecdotal evidence about double-billing prompted the union to write letters to every doctor at the False Creek Surgical Centre and the Cambie Surgery Centre as well, Ms. Brown said. "We got a couple of rather hostile letters from physicians who practise at False Creek and Cambie." Mr. Jones said the nurses' union wants the Medical Services Commission to come up with a process that would catch so-called double-dipping claims before illegal payments are made to doctors. But he said the union doesn't have legal standing to carry on the court challenge aimed at protecting medicare, which, under the Canada Health Act, is supposed to provide accessibility to health care for all Canadians. Union president Deb McPherson said that the union has a right as an agent of social change to bring the issue to light. Find out how to save public health care! Visit www.profitisnotthecure.ca for information about protecting Canada's most valued social program.