Telus Health and province reach settlement agreement following injunction petition

The province has suspended it’s injunction pursuit following a settlement with Telus health.

For a fee of $4,650 the first year and $3,650 each year after, Telus’ LifePlus program provides access to uninsured, non-primary healthcare services.

Though a Februrary 2022 investigation led the Medical Services Commission to accuse the program of charging patients for access to family doctors and urgent care.

If those accusations were to be proven true, it would be a violation of the Medicare Protection Act provision against charging for publicly covered care.

Now, following an injunction request from December, Telus has agreed to make operational changes to the program to bring it into compliance with the act.

The program will no longer offer physician services to new clients and will now offer those necessary and publicly funded services separately from LifePlus.

Chair of the commission Dr. Robert Halpenny says Telus’ collaboration and commitment to amending it’s program maintains the integrity of public healthcare in BC.