Important program details
November 4, 2022
View important details about one-time payment, Medical Liability Reimbursement and Continuing Medical Education.
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One-time payment
Work to implement the one-time recognition payment is under way and we are planning to issue those payments before the end of the calendar year. We’re still finalizing the grant agreement with Alberta Health to allow the payments to be made, but the eligibility and key criteria are included in the backgrounder below.
At this time, members can log into the AMA member dashboard on the AMA website and provide a bank account for the one-time payment deposit. Once logged into the dashboard, go to “My profile” and select a bank account from the drop-down list for the AMA Agreement 1-Time Payment. Members who do not select a bank account in the dashboard, will receive a cheque by mail.
In early December, we expect to email each member with their estimated payment amount based on the information provided by Alberta Health. Roughly 95% of members will receive the full amount based on the initial calculation, and members calculated to receive less than the full amount will have an opportunity to update their information before payments are issued. Watch for more details in the coming weeks.
Distribution mechanism for the one-time recognition payment
- The payment will be roughly $4,100, with an initial payment planned before the end of the calendar year, and likely a second, top-up payment in the new year, once final participation numbers are known.
- The one-time payment will be paid to physicians who:
- were full practicing physicians (opted into the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan, excluding resident physicians), during the April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, Fiscal Year and;
- provided “insured services” or publicly funded medically required services, or public health services paid by Alberta Health Services, during the April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, fiscal year and;
- are full members of AMA for 2022/23; or paid the non-member fee equal to full membership.
- The payment amount for each eligible physician is based on the income earned for the eligible services noted above, from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, as follows:
|
Physician earnings on eligible service |
Proportion of full payment |
|
≥80,000 |
100% |
|
$63,667.00 - $79,999.99 |
75% |
|
$46,667.00 - $63,666.99 |
50% |
|
$30,000.00 - $46,666.99 |
25% |
|
<$30,000 |
0% |
Other Information
- The payment will be made directly to the physician and not to the business arrangement number that is associated with the Schedule of Medical Benefits.
- Alberta Health will be providing the AMA with a list of physicians by income category so that the AMA can calculate each physician’s payment amount. Roughly 95% of physicians will exceed the $80,000 earning threshold based on Alberta Health billing data and will automatically receive the full payment. Alberta Health is working with AHS on a process to ensure eligible AHS income is also captured and reported.
- Physicians on maternity/parental leave from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, are deemed to have met the threshold for full payment.
- Physicians who have retired from practice or left the province are eligible for the payment if they satisfied the other criteria above (e.g., full AMA member and earned eligible income) from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
Medical Liability Reimbursement
The AMA will take over administration of the MLR program for the 2023 Canadian Medical Protective Association year. More details will be available on the 2023 reimbursement process in the coming weeks.
Under the agreement, the deductible for all physicians is reduced to $1,000. That means, physicians who were reimbursed for 2022 by Alberta Health based on a higher deductible, will receive an additional reimbursement from Alberta Health. This primarily affects urban specialist physicians because the deductible for family physicians and rural physicians was already set at $1,000. Alberta Health will provide more information to those receiving the additional reimbursement in the coming weeks.
Continuing Medical Education
The 2021/22 CME program will be administered by Alberta Health. This will be for CME expenses incurred between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022. The benefit will be $2,100 per physician and the claiming details for that program are available on the Alberta Health website. The web page outlines eligibility, reimbursement details and includes the application form. Alberta Health has also issued a Medical Bulletin with more details on the 2021/22 CME program.
The AMA will assume administration of the CME program effective April 1, 2022. The 2022/23 benefit will be $2,200 per physician and will be available for expenses incurred April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. Program details will be made available in the coming weeks – as soon as the grant agreement with Alberta Health is finalized.
A reminder that to receive the one-time payment and any of the benefit programs, physicians will need to be full members of the AMA or have paid an administration fee equal to full membership, so I encourage members to renew their 2022/23 membership as soon as possible to ensure there are no payment delays. Note that 2021/22 CME program will not have this requirement.
