The province hopes to recover more healthcare costs by changing a BC act.
The Health Care Costs Recovery Act allows the province to recover costs of health-care services given to those who have either died or were injured because of a wrongdoer’s negligence. The act aims to help those benefiting from the Medical Services Plan.
While the act has been successful since starting in 2009, the BC Government says some parts of it prevent them from recovering these costs fully.
As a result, they are proposing amendments that would address these issues.
“The amendments will narrow the circumstances in which the act does not apply because the beneficiary was injured in the course of their work,” said the BC Government.
“They will lengthen the window of time during which a claim can be amended to include a health services claim, expand disclosure obligations for defendants and their insurers, define who counts as an insurer under the act, and clarify the effect of liability waivers.”
If approved, the amendments could also include a requirement for the province to be notified when a third-party defendant is added to the legal proceedings, extend limitation periods, and allow pre-judgment interest to be collected from defendants.
