This year s report showed that in 2014-15, the only penalized province was British Columbia. Its payment was docked $241,637. That s about half the amount in extra billing a 2012 audit found was committed just by Dr. Brian Day s Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver in just one month. B.C. is also the only province seeking to enforce the act, by cracking down on Cambie s activities. Physicians and clinics have quietly been charging extra fees for health services for many years, yet calls for the federal government to enforce the act have been ignored. Coming down hard on extra-billing may not sound as exciting as announcing new funding for specialized medical services, but it is the job of provincial and federal health ministers to protect the Canada Health Act and guarantee equitable access to health care.
John supports policymakers and stakeholders to harness research evidence, citizen values and stakeholder insights to strengthen health and social systems and get the right programs, services and products to the people who need them. He is Co-Lead of the COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END) and Rapid-Improvement Support and Exchange (RISE). He is the Director of the McMaster Health Forum, Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Informed Policy, and Professor in the Department of Health Evidence and Impact at McMaster University, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg. He holds an MD from Queen s University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a PhD (in Health Policy) from Harvard University.