QUEBEC — Extra fees charged in private clinics for procedures covered by medicare are not being controlled and may be abusive, the province’s auditor general said in a report Tuesday.
Extra billing has been in dispute ever since the government of Quebec adopted Bill 20 in November. The bill aimed, among other things, to regulate add-on fees by creating a standardized price list.
The situation remains ambiguous, confusing and misunderstood, auditor general Guylaine Leclerc wrote in her report.
Neither the health department nor Quebec’s health insurance board (RAMQ) has a firm grip on these add-on fees, which are estimated at $50 million a year, she noted.
For example, the report said, Quebecers are charged between $300 and $400 for a colonoscopy, $125 to $225 for a vasectomy, $51 to $100 for a biopsy and $5 to $50 for an excision, depending on the clinic.