The Ontario government has reached a tentative four-year understanding with doctors. The deal was announced Monday morning by Health Minister Eric Hoskins. The negotiations leading to this settlement — still to be approved by the Ontario Medical Association — has been burdened by the cabinet’s need to control costs. (The provincial debt is more than $3 billion). In some cases, the breathtaking pay of some specialists, has been used to apply pressure. The OMA council votes Saturday August 6 on the deal. The specifics are not known but there is apparently agreement on “annual increases to the physician services budget that are limited to the costs of population growth, an aging society and funding for continued growth in doctors supply.”
