Quebec pediatricians warn law on physician pay will reduce children’s access to care

Quebec pediatricians are warning that a new law on physician pay will reduce children’s access to health care by making it more difficult for doctors to see young patients, part of a bruising standoff with the government that has seen hundreds of medical professionals apply to work outside the province and thousands demonstrating against the legislation.

Bill 2, as it’s known, moves Quebec from a largely fee-for-service model to a system known as capitation, where general practitioner pay is linked to how many patients they enroll. The government’s stated goal is to get every Quebecker a family doctor, up from one of the lowest rates of primary-care coverage in Canada. The bill was passed on Oct. 25 and is scheduled to go into effect in January.