Manitoba government hints of change in subsidies for chiropractic services

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he’s met with representatives of the Manitoba Chiropractors Association to talk about future funding.

The province has been hinting for weeks that subsidies for chiropractic services, which cost the government nearly $12 million annually, are going to be reduced.

Under a five-year contract signed by the previous NDP government, chiropractors bill Manitoba Health $12.30 per patient visit, with a maximum of 12 visits per patient subsidized each year.

The contract expires in March 2020, but Goertzen won’t say whether it’s being renegotiated.

He expects talks with the association to wrap up in the next week or so.

An official with the association will only confirm discussions are taking place with the government.

“We are not opening their contract without their consent, but we’ve had a number of discussions about what that might look like,” said Goertzen on Thursday.

“There are different things that we could do in-contract and out of contract. But I think the approach that we’ve taken is that we want to do this in a co-operative way.”

The minister noted the government has asked for broad buy-in from the health sector to get spending under control, and chiropractors understand that.

“It’s fair to say the premier has indicated that this is an ‘all hands on deck effort’ to ensure that we have sustainability in the health-care system today, tomorrow and into the future,” he said. (Winnipeg Free Press)