Year 4 allocation: principles, process and next steps

Dear Members, 
 
Your AMA Board is giving careful and focused attention to Year 4 retroactive allocation – an important and complex decision that affects physicians across the province.
 
Year 4 allocation is retroactive to April 1, 2025, covering the 2025–26 fiscal year and must be determined collaboratively with government as per the terms of the current AMA Agreement. From the outset, the Board’s approach has been guided by clear, agreed-upon principles: fairness; equity; transparency; and sustainability. Although the allocation award from the arbitrator is less than we expected and advocated for, it is the reality we need to deal with. Our allocation decisions will be grounded in objective, evidence-based data that looks at actual utilization, so members can be confident that this work is based on facts.
 
A significant focus of the Board’s prethinking has been fairness and equity. Consistent with the AMA’s Physician Compensation Strategy and direction from the Representative Forum, priority will be given to improving income equity, particularly for sections below the equity band. (Find full background for IEI on the website. Member login required.) To do this, the Board is considering important factors such as the previous year’s actual claims data, along with measures of overhead, time and training. At the same time, allocation decisions will take into account compensation changes that have already occurred (such as any adjustments already made resulting from the Market Rate Review, specific alternative relationship plan increases and the Primary Care Physician Compensation Model).
 
Because Year 4 allocation is retroactive, balance is essential. While we are strongly advocating to firmly protect physician interests, the Board is also required to work collaboratively with government at the macro-allocation level. We have been clear that any consideration of government priorities must align with the AMA’s principles and provide a clear strategic benefit for physicians.
 
Once the overall macro allocation is determined, the economic sections will lead their own micro allocation decisions, applying the same transparent and principled approach.
 
On March 4, the Board met with the AMA Compensation Committee to review these issues in detail. This work will continue at the RF this weekend, where delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide informed perspectives.
 
Following RF, the Board will consider:

• advice from the AMA Compensation Committee
• insights from the most recent AMA Pulse Survey
• input from RF delegates

Only after this full process is complete will final allocation decisions be made. Members will be informed clearly once decisions are finalized.
 
The Year 4 allocation is complex and what matters most is that this work is done in a way that strengthens trust, transparency and equity across the profession, and ensures that new money flows to physicians as soon as possible. The Board remains committed to that standard.
 
Regards,

Brian Wirzba, MD, FRCPC
President, Alberta Medical Association