Ontario restores malpractice subsidies

Journal de l'Association médicale canadienne 1996; 155 : 311

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) has welcomed Health Minister Jim Wilson's decision to restore malpractice-insurance subsidies for physicians. OMA president Dr. Gerry Rowland said the change "rectifies a large part of the financial problem many physicians have found themselves in and we expect they will re-evaluate their practice plans."

A growing number of specialists, particularly obstetricians, had either stopped or announced they would stop accepting new patients in the wake of the government's earlier decision to discontinue malpractice assistance. Wilson reversed that decision after the Canadian Medical Protective Association, which had increased fees by almost 20% in 1996 in spite of holding reserves of almost $1 billion, appointed former chief justice Charles Dubin to review its operations.

| CMAJ August 1, 1996 (vol 155, no 3) |