EDMONTON — The UCP government is reportedly considering adopting a commonly used American health-care billing system, a move critics warn could pave the way for further changes to Alberta's health-care system.A committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services and the Alberta Medical Association is examining options to modernize the physician billing code system used by Alberta health-care providers.The system relies on a series of codes, with each representing a specific medical service or procedure. Physicians use the codes when submitting claims to the provincial government for payment.Alberta currently uses its own billing system, known as the Schedule of Medical Benefits, but the committee is considering ways to modernize it.The Tyee reports that the committee has narrowed its options to two: modernizing Alberta's existing system or adopting the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system."The Government of Alberta and the Alberta Medical Association have had multiple conversations over a number of years about modernizing physician billing, which has not undergone a comprehensive structural review in decades," reads a statement from the Ministry of Health and Social Services sent to the Western Standard."This year alone, more than $7 billion is going to physician compensation. Albertans expect their government to periodically evaluate how systems that allocate billions of taxpayer dollars are working and look at what other administrative tools are used in other jurisdictions.".The potential adoption of CPT codes has raised concerns among critics of the UCP government, who argue that adopting a system commonly used in the United States could further align Alberta's health-care infrastructure with the American model.Premier Danielle Smith's government has faced criticism over its introduction of a dual-practice model, which allows eligible physicians to provide publicly funded medical services while also offering privately paid services in approved settings.The government argues that allowing patients to pay for eligible private surgeries will help reduce pressure on the public system by allowing other patients to move up surgical wait lists."Let us be absolutely clear: Alberta is not moving toward an American-style health-care system," the hospital and surgical health services statement reads. "Any suggestion otherwise is completely false. Our government remains firmly committed to publicly funded health care, and that is not changing.".However, critics argue that the dual-practice model is the UCP's way of transitioning Alberta away from Canada's public health-care system, and towards a US-style privatized system where individuals must pay for services or bill private insurers. These individuals claim that adopting CPT codes would ease the transition for private insurers and facilities looking to operate in Alberta, thus inching closer to a privatized health-care system. "So everything they're doing is queuing things up to allow insurance companies in, and to undermine the idea of single-payer universal access, which is an American approach to healthcare," said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, on Monday..Though a final decision has not been made regarding what system to adopt, the UCP opposes the notion that adopting the CPT would push Alberta closer to a privatized health-care system. "Both the Alberta Medical Association and the Government of Alberta have engaged with the American Medical Association over the years," the hospital and surgical health services statement statement reads. "The system used by the American Medical Association is a procedural dictionary to describe clinical services, and has been adapted and used in approximately 60 countries around the world." "This report was from a third-party consultant, not the government, and shared as one more piece of evidence for us to consider. No decisions have been made at this time to change the current model.”.Beyond concerns about the potential implications for privatization, adopting CPT would also require Alberta to pay licensing fees to the American Medical Association.The American Medical Association's published 2026 licensing schedule lists a royalty rate of US$0.24 per member annually under its health-plan licensing model.With approximately 5.5 million Albertans registered for provincial health-care coverage as of March 2025, applying that rate across the entire insured population would amount to approximately US$1.32 million annually.However, Alberta has not confirmed what licensing arrangement it would pursue or how much the proposed system would cost taxpayers.
