Alberta moves to stop public funding for lab tests linked to private health services

EDMONTON · The Alberta government has introduced legislation to stop public money from paying for laboratory tests ordered by private health providers, a practice officials say has been happening for 15 years. Primary and Preventative Health Services Minister Justin Wright tabled Bill 39, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, on Wednesday. He said the public system has been covering lab costs for tests linked to privately paid services like cosmetic procedures, wellness programs and hormone testing. Wright estimated the practice costs Alberta Precision Laboratories about $12 million annually.

"This is about maintaining clear expectations for publicly funded and privately delivered services, while supporting patient choices and protecting access to the health-care system," Wright told reporters at the legislature. He said the government only recently became fully aware of the issue, which began in 2011. The minister stressed that the proposed changes would not affect access to medically necessary, publicly funded lab services. Critics, however, questioned whether the move could lead to more lab tests being deemed "medically unnecessary" to shift costs onto patients and private insurance plans. NDP primary health critic Sharif Haji said the legislation appears to build on previous United Conservative government bills that open more avenues for privately funded health options. Chris Gallaway, executive director of the advocacy group Friends of Medicare, said he believes the government is creating more ways for patients to self-refer for care so it can avoid paying.

"If something's preventative health care, it's health care," Gallaway said. "If it's a totally unnecessary thing, we shouldn't be using our labs and resources to do it in the first place."

The omnibus bill also proposes amendments to the Compassionate Intervention Act, Alberta's law allowing for involuntary addiction treatment. Mental Health and Addiction Minister Rick Wilson said most changes are administrative and should be the final legislative adjustments needed before the program launches in spring 2027. The amendments would allow the commission hearing applications to triage them based on greatest need and risk. Applicants could withdraw a request early in the process, and registered psychiatric nurses would be added to the list of professionals who can propose someone for involuntary treatment.

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The legislation would also authorize treatment teams, with commission approval, to administer non-refusable drugs, including medications for concurrent mental disorders contributing to addiction. Wilson said the province is currently seeking applications for commission panels across Alberta. NDP public safety critic David Shepherd said the government should not proceed with involuntary treatment in 2027, arguing key infrastructure and legal questions remain unanswered. "You don't go into that sort of thing without having thought it through pretty carefully," Shepherd said.

Bill 39 also seeks to transfer approximately 300 public health inspectors from Alberta Health Services to the new Primary Care Alberta agency, a reversal from an earlier plan to make them direct government employees. It proposes changes to the Protection for Persons in Care Act to extend coverage to publicly funded service providers like lodges and treatment centres. Gallaway of Friends of Medicare criticized the government's broader health restructuring, now three years old, saying it has created chaos without improving patient care. Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange, however, said the restructuring is responsible for improvements like increased physician numbers and reduced wait times.

With files from CBC News and Edmonton Journal