The Medical Services Plan of British Columbia (MSP) is the government-administered, single-payer
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
in the
Canadian province of
British Columbia, operating under the auspices of the country's national
Medicare program. Under the
Canadian constitution, provinces are responsible for the delivery of health care, while the national
Canada Health Act ensures access to
universal health care for all citizens of the country.
The plan covers medically required services provided by a
physician enrolled with MSP; maternity care provided by a physician or a
midwife; medically required
eye examinations provided by an
ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...
or
optometrist
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care.
In the Uni ...
; diagnostic services, including
x-rays and
laboratory services, provided at approved diagnostic facilities, when ordered by a registered physician, midwife,
podiatrist,
dental surgeon
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial comp ...
or oral surgeon; dental and
oral surgery, when medically required to be performed in
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
; and
orthodontic services related to severe congenital facial abnormalities.
MSP claims processing system is integrated with a web-based telecommunications system, Teleplan. Teleplan is used by practitioners to securely submit from over 4,200 computer sites their claims, notes and eligibility requests to MSP, and receive payment statements, rejected claims and patient eligibility data from MSP through an encrypted Internet connection. Teleplan receives and processes over 5 million claims monthly, valued at approximately $116 million. Approximately 95% of all claims are processed within 30 days, with the majority being paid within 14 days. Billing software is developed for these sites by over 80 software vendors who are registered with MSP. An association called Medical Software Vendors Association (MSVA) is formed by the major vendors to work with MSP for ongoing specifications and method changes. Teleplan was started in late 1980s, went through many specification and technological changes and is MSP's main gateway of medical claim information.
As of April 2005, Health Insurance BC is the new name for administrative operations of the Medical Services Plan (MSP) and PharmaCare, including Fair PharmaCare.
On 16 September 2016,
Michael de Jong
Mike de Jong, (born 1963 or 1964) is a provincial politician and was cabinet minister of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
Early life
De Jong was born to Dutch parents who immigrated to Canada after Canadian soldiers liberated th ...
,
Minister of Finance for British Columbia announced that the government will spend $500 million on
housing affordability
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median household income, median as rated by the Government, national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability i ...
, while also canceling the planned increase in MSP
premium
Premium may refer to:
Marketing
* Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products
* Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...
s and possibly increase
Welfare rates.
From 2023 it is proposed to move to a new payment model and away from the fee-for-service model for family doctors. There will also be a province-wide database for British Columbians to be matched with a GP. It is expected that doctors will then earn $385,000, up from an average of $250,000.
See also
*
British Columbia Ambulance Service
*
E-Comm
E-Comm 9-1-1 is a multi-municipality agency that provides emergency communications operations for British Columbia. The company coordinates 9-1-1 service for police, fire, and ambulance service, providing call-taking and dispatch services for mul ...
, 9-1-1 call and dispatch centre for Southwestern BC
*
Emergency Social Services
*
HealthLink BC
HealthLinkBC is a government-funded telehealth service launched in 2001, which provides non-emergency health information to the residents of British Columbia, Canada through combined telephone, internet, mobile app, and print resources. HealthL ...
*
List of emergency organizations in British Columbia
References
{{reflist
External links
Medical Services Plan of British Columbia
Health in British Columbia