The AMA wanted a larger increase. Here’s the raise Alberta docs just got instead as part of Year 4 allocation

The Alberta government has announced a $172.3-million increase in physician compensation for the Year 4 allocation of the 2022-26 master agreement with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).The new funding represents the 3% increase that was awarded during binding arbitration for the final year of the agreement, retroactive to April 1, 2025. “This agreement takes meaningful steps to modernize physician compensation, supporting team-based care and moving away from legacy models that no longer reflect how care is delivered in Alberta’s health system,” Adriana LaGrange, minister of hospital and surgical health services, said in a news release Thursday. Dr. Brian Wirzba, president of the AMA, says the increased funding “an important step,” but noted that the organization “fought for, and certainly would have preferred, a larger overall increase from the arbitrator to address physician priorities.”“Through detailed work with government, we challenged assumptions, improved costing approaches and strengthened how funding is allocated. This allowed us to direct more of the available investment toward physician compensation priorities,” he said in his June 25 letter to members. According to the AMA, the new allocation includes three distinct components. Around one-half of this funding will go towards the new Derived Day Approach for physicians who are on ARP (Alternative Relationship Plan) and AMHSP (Academic Medicine and Health Services Program)—two alternative physician compensation models. “This will help bring greater alignment, stability and sustainability to these models, while supporting a transition away from legacy stipends,” Dr. Wirzba said. In addition, the AMA says “a large share” of the funding will be distributed based on the Income Equity Measure—a formula used by the AMA that calculates income earning capacity based on overhead expenses, hours worked and years of training.“Some sections will see higher proportional gains than others based on the Income Equity Measure. This reflects the goal of addressing long-standing inequities across the profession, including many cARP rates that have fallen 10–70% behind comparable FFS payments,” Dr. Wirzba said.Finally, the Dr. Wirzba noted that “targeted investments” are being made to address current system pressures, such as increasing key after-hours services.“In the coming weeks, we will work closely with sections to finalize micro (fee-level) changes and complete implementation of ARP rate adjustments,” Dr. Wirzba said.“The progress made in aligning compensation models, addressing inequities and reinforcing the value physicians bring to the system strengthens our position as we negotiate a new master agreement.”

The AMA wanted a larger increase. Here’s the raise Alberta docs just got instead as part of Year 4 allocation

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