DOC ISSUES FEE WARNING

September 13, 1997 -- By TIMOTHY le RICHE -- Edmonton Sun
  Low fees will prompt more doctors to drop out of medicare, the outgoing president of the Alberta Medical Association warned yesterday.
 In a speech at the Edmonton Westin, Dr. Kabir Jivraj said doctors around Alberta share the frustration of Dr. Linda Witham of Red Deer, who plans to privatize her practice Oct. 5 by billing patients directly.
 "Low fees are evidence of how physicians are devalued economically," Jivraj told delegates to the annual meeting of the AMA.
 "If the low fees continue, they may well push other physicians out of medicare and into the creation of a private health care system here in Alberta."
 Publicly funded health care has come to a crucial juncture, said Jivraj.
 "Governments cannot continue to reduce the level of funding for health care and expect to realize the goals of medicare."
 Alberta's health system is slowly bleeding to death because government investment has not kept pace with inflation, population growth, aging or advances in medicine, he said, adding it's unfair for governments to suggest that all would be fine if doctors worked harder and took less money.
 "While there has been a change in the attitudes of some, there are still many who want to control and limit how physicians practise," said Jivraj.
 "They would put a budget ahead of a person's health."

9:21 AM 13-Sep-97 @ http://www.canoe.com/EdmontonNews/23_n1.html