Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability Act, 2019 (Unproclaimed and Not in Force Sections Only)

ENSURING FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY ACT, 2019 Chapter 18 HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows: Alberta Health Care Insurance Act Amends RSA 2000 cA‑20 1 (1) The Alberta Health Care Insurance Act is amended by this section. (2) Section 1 is amended (a) by adding the following after clause (j): (j.1) “designated person” means a person designated by the Minister under section 46; (b) by adding the following after clause (w): (w.1) “practitioner identification number” means a practitioner identification number issued under section 48(2); (3) Section 6 is amended (a) by adding the following after subsection (1): (1.1) No physician who is opted into the Plan may receive the payment of benefits from the Minister for insured services provided in Alberta to a resident unless the physician provided the insured services in compliance with any conditions applicable to the physician’s practitioner identification number under section 49(1) or the regulations. (b) by adding the following after subsection (2): (2.1) No resident may receive the payment of benefits from the Minister for insured services provided in Alberta to the resident by a physician who is opted into the Plan unless the physician who provided the insured services provided them in compliance with the conditions applicable to the physician’s practitioner identification number under section 49(1) or the regulations. (c) in subsection (3) by striking out “subsections (1) and (2)” and substituting “subsections (1), (1.1), (2) and (2.1)”. (4) Section 8 is repealed and the following is substituted: Opted‑in and opted‑out physicians 8 (1) A physician who holds a practitioner identification number that is not inactive is deemed to be opted into the Plan. (2) A physician who holds a practitioner identification number that is inactive is deemed to be opted out of the Plan. (3) A physician who does not hold a practitioner identification number is deemed to be opted out of the Plan. Opting out by physicians 8.1 (1) A physician who holds a practitioner identification number may opt out of the Plan by (a) notifying the Minister in writing indicating the effective date of the opting out, (b) publishing a notice of the opting out in a newspaper having general circulation in the area in which the physician practises, and (c) posting a notice of the opting out in a part of the physician’s office to which patients have access at least 180 days prior to the effective date of the opting out. (2) The practitioner identification number of a physician who opts out of the Plan under subsection (1) becomes inactive effective on the date indicated in the written notice provided to the Minister under subsection (1)(a). Duty of opted‑out physician 8.2 A physician who is opted out of the Plan shall (a) post a notice in a part of the physician’s office to which patients have access advising patients of the physician’s opted‑out status, and (b) ensure that each patient is advised in person of the physician’s opted‑out status before any service is provided to the patient. (5) Section 9 is amended (a) by adding the following after subsection (1): (1.1) No physician who provides insured services to a person and is prohibited under section 6(1.1) from receiving the payment of benefits from the Minister for those insured services shall charge or collect from any person an amount for those insured services. (b) in subsection (2) by adding “or (1.1)” after “subsection (1)”. (6) Section 13 is amended (a) in subsection (1) (i) in clause (a) by striking out “or”; (ii) in clause (b) by striking out “section 12,” and substituting “section 6(1.1) or 12, or”; (iii) by adding the following after clause (b): (c) receives an amount in contravention of section 9(1.1), (b) in subsection (2) by striking out “or the benefits in a case referred to in subsection (1)(b),” and substituting “the benefits in a case referred to in subsection (1)(b) or the amount in a case referred to in subsection (1)(c)”. (7) Section 15 is amended by adding the following after subsection (1): (1.1) Prior to providing insured services in Alberta to a resident in respect of whom benefits may be paid, a physician who is prohibited under section 6(1.1) from receiving the payment of benefits from the Minister for the insured services shall advise the resident of that fact and that the resident is not entitled to be reimbursed from the Plan for the cost of the insured services. (8) Section 18 is amended (a) by adding the following after subsection (1): (1.1) For greater certainty, the Minister may, with respect to any claim for benefits that has been assessed under section 4(2), reassess the claim if the physician is prohibited under section 6(1.1) from receiving the payment of benefits from the Minister for the service. (b) in subsections (5) and (7) by striking out “subsection (1) or (2)” and substituting “subsection (1), (1.1) or (2)”. (9) Section 23 is amended by striking out “or to a person employed in the administration of this Act” and substituting “, to a designated person or to a person employed in the administration of this Act or the regulations”. (10) The following is added after section 44: Part 4 Physician Resource Planning Physician resource planning committees 45 (1) The Minister may establish the committees that the Minister considers necessary to provide advice to the Minister with respect to the Minister’s duties under section 47. (2) The Minister may, with respect to a committee established under subsection (1), (a) appoint or provide for the manner of the appointment of its members, (b) prescribe the term of office of any member, (c) designate a chair, vice‑chair and secretary, and (d) authorize, fix or provide for the payment of remuneration and expenses to its members. (3) Remuneration and expenses referred to in subsection (2) must be determined (a) in accordance with any applicable regulations under the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act , or (b) by the Minister if no regulations under the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act are applicable. (4) The Minister may give directions to a committee with respect to any matter relating to its duties or the conduct and management of its affairs. Designated person 46 The Minister shall, by order, designate one or more persons as a designated person for the purposes of this Part. Physician complement 47 For the purposes of determining the maximum number of physicians who may be opted into the Plan in the Province, the Minister shall, at the times determined by the Minister, limit the number of practitioner identification numbers that may be issued under section 48(2) or reactivated under section 48(4) within each of the following categories: (a) geographic area of practice; (b) practice type or specialty; (c) any other category prescribed in the regulations. Application for practitioner identification number 48 (1) A physician who does not hold a practitioner identification number and wishes to opt into the Plan shall apply to a designated person, in accordance with the regulations, for a practitioner identification number. (2) Subject to the regulations and the limits set by the Minister under section 47, a designated person shall issue a practitioner identification number to a physician who applies under subsection (1). (3) A physician who holds a practitioner identification number that is inactive and wishes to opt into the Plan shall apply to a designated person, in accordance with the regulations, for reactivation of the practitioner identification number. (4) Subject to the regulations and the limits set by the Minister under section 47, a designated person shall reactivate the practitioner identification number of a physician who applies under subsection (3). (5) A practitioner identification number that was issued by the Minister under the Claims for Benefits Regulation (AR 81/2006) to a physician who, immediately before the coming into force of this section, is opted into the Plan is deemed to have been issued as a practitioner identification number under subsection (2). Conditions 49 (1) On issuing a practitioner identification number under section 48(2) or reactivating a practitioner identification number under section 48(4), a designated person shall, subject to the regulations and the limits set by the Minister under section 47, determine the conditions that apply to the practitioner identification number. (2) A decision of a designated person under this Part is final. (3) Despite anything in this Act or the regulations, no condition applies to a practitioner identification number referred to in section 48(5) so long as the practitioner identification number does not become inactive. Duties of designated person 50 A designated person shall (a) report to the Minister, in the form and manner and at the times required by the Minister, respecting the exercise of the designated person’s powers and the performance of the designated person’s duties under this Act, and (b) perform any other duties set out in the regulations. Regulations 51 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations (a) prescribing other categories for the purposes of section 47; (b) respecting practitioner identification numbers, including regulations respecting (i) applications made under section 48(1) and (3), and the requirements to be met by physicians for the purposes of an application, and (ii) issuing, suspending and reactivating practitioner identification numbers and respecting the circumstances in which practitioner identification numbers may or shall be issued, suspended, reactivated or become inactive; (c) requiring a physician who is deemed under section 9(2)(c) to have opted out of the Plan for a specified period to apply to a designated person on the expiry of the period and respecting conditions that may or shall apply to a physician’s practitioner identification number following an application; (d) requiring a physician whose practitioner identification number has been suspended to apply to a designated person on the expiry of the suspension period and respecting conditions that may or shall apply to a physician’s practitioner identification number following an application; (e) respecting the imposition of conditions on a practitioner identification number on issuance or reactivation or at any other time, prescribing the conditions and respecting the circumstances in which the conditions may or shall apply to a practitioner identification number; (f) respecting the varying of conditions that apply to a practitioner identification number at any time, including regulations (i) requiring a physician who wishes to vary the conditions that apply to the physician’s practitioner identification number to apply to a designated person to vary the conditions, (ii) respecting applications made under subclause (i), and the requirements to be met by physicians for the purposes of an application, and (iii) respecting the circumstances in which a designated person may vary the conditions that apply to a practitioner identification number; (g) requiring a physician to pay fees for an application, issuance or reactivation under this Part and prescribing the fees; (h) requiring a physician to report to a designated person or to the Minister respecting matters related to this Part and respecting the information that must be included in a report; (i) respecting the collection, use and disclosure of information, including personal information as defined in the Protection of Privacy Act and health information as defined in the Health Information Act , for the purposes of this Part and the regulations; (j) respecting additional powers and duties of a designated person; (k) defining any word or expression that this Act uses but does not define; (l) generally, providing for any other matter considered necessary for the purpose of the administration and operation of this Part or to meet cases that may arise and for which no provision is made by this Part. (2) A regulation made under subsection (1) may do one or more of the following: (a) delegate a matter to or confer discretion on a designated person; (b) create different classes of physicians and provide differently for different classes; (c) limit the application of the regulation in time or place, or both. Transitional regulations 52 (1) In this section, “previous Act” means this Act as it read immediately before the coming into force of this section. (2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations (a) respecting the transition to this Act as amended by the Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability Act, 2019 of anything under the previous Act; (b) to remedy any confusion, difficulty, inconsistency or impossibility resulting from the transition to this Act as amended by the Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability Act, 2019 from the previous Act. (3) A regulation made under subsection (2) may be made retroactive to the extent set out in the regulation. (4) A regulation made under subsection (2) is repealed 2 years after the regulation comes into force. (5) The repeal of a regulation under subsection (4) does not affect anything done under the authority of the regulation before the repeal of the regulation. (13) The following is added after section 41: Protection from liability 41.1 No action or other proceeding may be brought against the Minister, a designated person, a person acting under the authority of the Minister or a designated person or a person employed in the administration of this Act in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of a power or the performance or purported performance of a duty or function under this Act. (14) This section, except subsections (11) and (12), comes into force on Proclamation. 2019 c18 s1;2021 c25 s5;AR 141/2025 Alberta Utilities Commission Act Amends SA 2007 cA‑37.2 3 (1) The Alberta Utilities Commission Act is amended by this section. (2) Section 39 is amended (a) by repealing subsection (1)(b)(i.1); (b) in subsection (3)(a) (i) repealed 2025 c20 s8; (ii) by repealing subclause (iii). (3) Sections 51(1)(a)(i.1) and 56(3)(a)(i.1) are repealed. (4) This section is effective on the repeal of the Rate of Last Resort Stability Act . 2019 c18 s3;2022 c19 s4;2025 c20 s8