1968 Bill 103 First Session, 16th L€gislature, 17 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY O~ALBERTA BILL 103

An Act to amend The Medical Services (Alberta) Incorporated Act THE MINISTER OF HEALTH First Reading ............................................................. . Second Reading ........................................................ .. Third Reading Printed by L. S. Wall, Queen's Printer, Edmonton

BILL 103 1968

An Act to amend The Medical Services (Alberta) Incorporated Act (Assented to , 1968) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1. The Medical Services (Alberta) Incorporated Act is hereby amended. 2. The following

section is added after

section 4: 4a.

(1) The Corporation may enter into agreements or arrangements with the Alberta Hospital Association (in this

section called the "Association"), under which the Corporation is empowered to act as the agent of the As­ sociation for any or all of the following purposes: (

a) soliciting, negotiating or issuing or entering into Blue Cross contracts; (

b) receiving fees and subscription charges under Blue Cross contracts and remitting them to the Associa­ tion; (

c) receiving claims for benefits under Blue Cross contracts; (

d) checking- and approving claims for benefits payable under Blue Cross contracts; (

e) paying claims for benefits under Blue Cross con­ tracts; (

I) doing any other acts or functions in connection with the administration of Blue Cross contracts.

(2) In subsection (1), "Blue Cross contracts" means contracts and agreements that the Association is empower­ ed to enter jnto pursuant to clause (

a) of

section 3 of The Alberta Hospital Association Act.

(3) An agreement or arrangement may provide for the payment of fees by the Association to the Corporation for its services thereunder and may empower the Corpor­ ation to do any other acts or enter into agreements with any persons for the purpose of enabling the Corporation to carry out its obligations under the agreement or arrangement.

Explanatory Notes 1. This Bill amends

chapter 88 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1948. 2. The new

section 4a win enable Medical Services (Alberta) Incorporated to enter into reciprocal arrangements with the Alberta Hospital Association which operates the Blue Cross Plan which provides coverage for hospital and other health services but not "basic health services" as defined in The Alberta Health Plan Act. M.S. (A.) I., on the other hand, provides prepaid coverage for basic health services only.

Under the arrangements, M.S. (A.) I. could sell or administer Blue Cross contracts on behalf of the Association so that, for example, where an employer had a group -contract with M.S. (A.) I. and another one with the Association, ,M.S. (A.)I. could administer ,both. Similarly, under an -amendment to The Alberta Hospital As­ sociation Act (see Bill 104), the Association could sell or admin­ ister contracts on behalf of a.vr.S. (A.) I.

(4) The Corporation is empowered to enter into agree­ ments or arrangements with the Association pursuant to

section 3a of The Alberta Hospital Association Act. 3. This Act comes into force on the day upon which it is assented to. 2

2 Title: 1968 (16th, 1st) Bill 103,

An Act to amend The Medical Services (Alberta) Incorporated Act