Quebec doctors will now receive annual premium of $100 per patient in new GAP deal

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube responds to reporters questions over negotiations with Quebec doctors, Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

Family physicians now receive a premium of $100 per patient annually when they are registered through Quebec's front-line access desk (GAP), a reduction of $20 each.

On Friday at noon, Quebec Federation of General Practitioners (FMOQ) president Dr. Marc-André Amyot presented to his members the details of the agreement reached Thursday with the Quebec government.

The premium will also no longer be paid in full as soon as the appointment becomes available. An initial $50 will be allocated when a time slot is open and the other $50 will be given at the time of the appointment.

Both parties seem satisfied with the agreement.

Health Minister Christian Dubé stressed on Thursday that the bridge agreement for GAP will "preserve certain important principles, such as collective enrolment."

Since 2022, an annual premium of $120 had been paid for each patient enrolled in a family medicine group (FMG) via the GAP. The aim was for FMGs to take on patients who had no family doctor.

Amyot repeatedly argued that the premium is being used to hire staff and rent space to accommodate more patients.

"Physicians have reorganized their practices," he argued on Thursday before the agreement with Quebec City was announced.

The agreement expired on May 31, resulting in fewer appointments made through the GAP. At one point, the number of appointments available via the GAP had dropped from 17,604 in the week of May 18 to 1,133 for the week of June 29.

In a press scrum on Thursday, Amyot hinted that the number of appointments offered via the GAP should go up compared to the decline that was seen at end of the agreement. However, it won't return to "the previous state of GAP," he said.

He explained that some doctors who decided to postpone retirement in order to offer GAP services may now have retired because of uncertainty as to whether the agreement would be renewed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 14, 2024.

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