{"id":603183,"date":"2026-04-14T10:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603183\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:21:17","slug":"greater-access-to-private-medical-testing-in-alberta-under-proposed-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603183\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater access to private medical testing in Alberta under proposed legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alberta\u2019s government is laying the legislative groundwork to let more people pay in order to bypass their doctor to get faster access to everything from CT scans to blood tests.<\/p>\n

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Primary Health Minister Adriana LaGrange introduced a Bill 29, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 on Monday that, if passed, will allow for rules to fast-track some medical tests without a referral from a health practitioner.<\/p>\n

LaGrange said it\u2019s the first step in a previously announced plan to expand privately delivered medical tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about adding capacity, not replacing our public system,\u201d LaGrange told reporters Monday before introducing the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about giving Albertans more control over their health while maintaining the strong public health-care system that we all rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said right now, too many Albertans are waiting too long for diagnostic testing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEarly treatment is often simpler, more effective and less invasive, and it also leads to better outcomes for patients and less pressure on our health-care system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

LaGrange declined to say which specific medical tests may be included, or how the province may reimburse costs.<\/p>\n

She said those details will be clarified in regulations that will be crafted in the coming months.<\/p>\n

She confirmed that the government\u2019s plan, announced in October, \u201chasn\u2019t changed,\u201d although the province may start with \u201cjust one or two things and then build on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a video released in the fall, Premier Danielle Smith and LaGrange said reforms will permit Albertans to purchase any private diagnostic screening and testing service they wish.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta introduces dual health-care system allowing more private options\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes MRIs, CT scans, full body scans, bloodwork \u2014 you name it,\u201d said LaGrange in the video.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHealth professionals and medical organizations will be free to offer these services privately, and supplemental health benefit plans will be able to insure them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that province aims to spur a flood of investment and health professionals into the province.<\/p>\n

Smith said at the time if a privately purchased test identifies a new life-threatening condition, the government will reimburse the costs of that test.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWill Alberta\u2019s public-private health approach reduce wait times? A deeper look into dual-model practice\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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On Monday, LaGrange stressed that medically necessary tests ordered by physicians will still be publicly covered and will always get priority across the province.<\/p>\n

She said because people will be paying for tests, there will be a market for private providers to meet increased demands.<\/p>\n

However, critics have said the plan risks dragging the province into a two-tiered system, siphoning critical staff from public hospitals and exacerbating lengthy wait times in the public system.<\/p>\n

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The province says current access to publicly funded preventive testing with no out-of-pocket payments requires referrals from a doctor, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist or dentist. Some private clinics and health facilities already provide preventive testing services, but most still require provider referrals.<\/p>\n

There are also publicly funded self-referral screening programs delivered through private clinics, including for mammograms, with no out-of-pocket costs.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta tables legislation to expand private health care\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta\u2019s government is laying the legislative groundwork to let more people pay in order to bypass their doctor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[129127,7611,228121,43,84,44,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-603183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta-health","9":"tag-alberta-legislature","10":"tag-alberta-private-health-care","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}