Alberta’s Bill 11 is being sold as healthcare modernization. Critics call it a slippery slope to two-tier healthcare. Both sides should take a breath and read what’s actually on the table and what isn’t.The bill, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2), was introduced on November 24 and it tackles several problems at once, such as how physicians practice, how drug plans pay, how health cards are managed, and how billing fraud is policed. .WENZEL: It’s time to reverse blanket rezoning and bring back Fort Calgary.Alberta’s government says it’s meant to “empower” providers and improve outcomes. That sounds like a generic term. But there are real, measurable goals under it.Start with the biggest flashpoint, the dual-practice model..Under Bill 11, a “flexibly participating physician” can provide insured health services under the Alberta plan and offer “non-Plan services” outside it. That is where private pay comes in. The bill also builds in duties that matter.Patients must be told what the service is, what it costs, that they must pay to receive it, and that they can still seek an insured version through participating physicians. .WIECHNIK: Alberta’s oil patch is one coup away from crisis.Meanwhile, the bill keeps a hard ban on extra billing for insured health services. In other words, if it’s insured, you can’t charge on top of that even if you’re in the flexible category.So why do it?Because the current system isn’t just strained. .It’s stuck. Canada’s wait times are now so long they’ve become a health risk of their own. The Fraser Institute’s latest national survey reported a median wait of 30 weeks from GP referral to treatment in 2024, which is the longest in that survey’s history. You don’t need to agree with every Fraser Institute conclusion to accept the basic point that long waits are real, and doing nothing is a choice..MACLEOD: Unlocking Alberta’s potential — why independence must be on the table.Bill 11’s critics warn it will pull staff out of the public system and leave everyone else waiting longer. That’s the core fear. Alberta’s answer is “guardrails,” mostly through regulation, such as keeping emergency and cancer surgeries in the public stream, setting minimum public practice requirements, and restricting certain specialties if shortages appear. The government has also said family doctors will not be part of dual practice “for now,” because attachment to primary care is still a priority..That “for now” clause makes people nervous. That’s fair. It also means the debate should be about the rules that will be written, not slogans about “Americanization.”Canada already has a mixed delivery model. .THOMAS: City of Calgary budget public hearings; is everyone being heard?.Doctors bill public plans, many procedures are done in non-hospital settings, and private insurance already covers plenty of things the public system doesn’t. What Bill 11 changes is flexibility.The ability to move between streams without months of red tape. Alberta’s health minister has said only about 14 physicians are currently fully opted out, and the new model could bring some of them back into the public stream part-time. .That’s not a collapse. That’s a potential net gain.Then there’s drugs.Bill 11 shifts public drug plans toward “payor of last resort,” meaning private or employer plans pay first when they exist. .DUR: The quiet horror: Inside Canada’s late-term abortion regime.Alberta says about 76% of residents already have some additional insurance and estimates the change could save $35 million to $54 million a year. Critics say insurers will just pass costs along. Maybe, but cost shifting already happens all over the system. At least this approach puts public dollars where they are most needed, which is on people without coverage, and on gaps private plans won’t pay..The bill also does the unglamorous work that keeps a system credible.It strengthens billing oversight and targets fraud. It tightens health card rules, including the ability to suspend or seize cards that are tampered with. It updates food safety investigation powers. .PINDER: The real Carney is emerging.Those may sound like side issues. They aren’t. A system that leaks money through sloppy administration can’t ask taxpayers for endless “new funding” with a straight face.Bill 11 is not a magic wand. .If Alberta wants shorter waits, it still needs more operating time, more nurses, more anesthesiology coverage, and smarter scheduling. But Bill 11 is at least pointed at the right target, which is capacity, and it keeps key public protections on insured services in the law itself.The status quo is not neutral. It rations care by delay, not by need, and it quietly pushes people to travel or pay elsewhere. .JEANES: Making the case for Danielle Smith to my Red Tory neighbours.Bill 11 offers a controlled way to add options, pull expertise back into the system, and use public dollars more carefully.No bill is perfect. But in healthcare, refusing to move is also a decision, and patients have already been paying the price.
