Excerpts from government emails show this decision is not the right one.
Highlights from Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Documents (ATIPP)
Reason for Government’s Decision to Cut Funding for doctor-delivered Flu Shots
The Minister of Health has stated that the reason government has cut funding for physician-delivered flu shots is to ensure health care providers are working to their full scope. Documents obtained through Access to Information reveal a different story.
“...the only way for us to pay for HPV for boys is to eliminate the (MCP influenza) fee code.”
Email from Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy, Planning and Performance Monitoring), DHCS to Vice President, Clinical Services, Eastern Health, March 30, 2017
“We are looking at eliminating the fee code for influenza immunization. The sense that we have is that this fee code is being used by docs to run “flu shot clinics” and there is an estimate that we could save $517,000 from eliminating it…We want to use these savings to pay for the introduction of HPV vaccination for boys and there is a lot of interest in getting approval for this change as soon as possible."
Email from Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy, Planning and Performance Monitoring), DHCS, to Executive Director, Audit and Claims Integrity, DHCS, April 3, 2017
“On Thursday, May 4, 2017, the Minister will be announcing funding to expand the HPV vaccination program to include school-aged boys. In order to fund this initiative, a decision has been made to no longer fund influenza vaccination clinics held by physicians."
Email Deputy Minister, DHCS to NLMA Executive Director, May 3, 2017
Decision made to not talk about the HPV vaccine in connection with the flu shot:
“…savings from the removal of this (influenza) fee code is being used to fund the HPV vaccinations for school aged boys…” “Not sure if we want to link this to HPV vaccine or not.”
‘I would not link it to HPV.”
“I agree to keep the HPV separate”
Emails from Various Officials, DHCS, May 15, 2017
Download the Full Document
Download Now