Murphy urges meeting with N.B. doctors to settle fee impasse

Health Minister Michael Murphy is pushing ahead with a bill to impose a fee freeze on the province's doctors but is suggesting he may have other ways to sweeten the bitter pill.

The minister hopes the New Brunswick Medical Society reconsiders its refusal to meet with him over the proposed fee freeze bill, and believes the two sides could put to rest some "smaller- or middle-sized issues" that have lingered for years and are not financial.

"I do know there's a lot of things that have been on their agenda over the years that perhaps we can get to the bottom of more quickly than previously anticipated," Murphy said.

"And it would be incumbent upon the medical society to determine if there are some issues that are not financial that they'd like to resolve."

Murphy was reluctant to elaborate, but did say one example could include revising the province's billing number system, which controls the number of doctors who can work in certain regions and has long been a sore point with doctors.

The medical society issued a statement on Wednesday indicating it will hold an emergency meeting on June 12 to hammer out a strategy on dealing with the proposed fee freeze.

Tories aren't surprised doctors won't meet Murphy

Progressive Conservative MLA Margaret-Ann Blaney, the opposition's health critic, said it's no wonder doctors aren't willing to talk.

"He's already indicated this is what he's going to make happen and that certainly doesn't bode well for communication, for co-operation," Blaney said.

"You know, that kind of heavy handedness is telling the doctors I'm shutting you down and shutting you out."

The bill comes after the medical society refused a request to set aside a tentative agreement reached last December and accept a two-year freeze to help with the projected $740-million deficit.

Murphy said last week that if the doctors agree to a two-year pay freeze, the province would save about $36 million, including $25 million from fee-for-service doctors, who bill the province by procedure or patient, and $9 million from salaried physicians.

Furlong advises doctors not to consider job action

Dr. Mike Simon, a Saint John physician, said on Wednesday that he and other doctors were considering job action because of the fee freeze controversy. He said that could include reducing the number of hours that doctors volunteer in hospitals, work on committees or do paperwork.

Dr. Dennis Furlong, who served as the Conservative health minister during the 2001 doctors' strike, said he hopes physicians will not follow through on the threat of job action.

Furlong said he understands the frustration doctors are feeling over the provincial government introducing the fee freeze, but he said the policy would be retroactive to last year and expire within 10 months.

He also said the situation is different for doctors now than it was during the 2001 strike.

"In 2001, there was about a 30 to 40 per cent disparity in the fee service structure compared to even neighbouring provinces," Furlong said.

"And this time we don't have that. I'm not sure it would be a good idea to take job action based on the fact we're going to be delayed 10 months before the agreement to move ahead on this pay raise."

Furlong said he does not believe the New Brunswick government's actions will deter physicians from coming to the province.