Tax changes will lead to “doctor exodus

October 25, 2017 · 0 Comments

This letter expresses my great concern for the threat to local health care from proposed tax changes.
Provincial and federal Liberal policies toward doctors are jeopardizing front-line health care at a time our population is aging. According to my own Newmarket GP, more than 20 have left general practice in our area alone. They have gone into such areas as health care administration (i.e. bureaucracy), and laser and cosmetic surgery.
Try getting comprehensive care there when you or your children need it.
My doctor, who works tirelessly, makes less than $100,000 net take-home. From overall revenues, he and his fellow walk-in physicians pay for staff, facility costs, insurance, etc. Salary increases have largely been dormant, so in 2004 physicians were given the capacity, as self-employed professionals, to incorporate. From this flowed tax benefits to mitigate loss of salary gains. Incorporation helped front-line GPs meet rising expenses, and try to put some away for retirement.
Now Minister Morneau labels doctors “tax cheats” and proposes eliminating incorporation for them. What one Liberal government gives, the other takes away.
Get ready. More doctors will leave the front lines of health care. And then, as the old ad says, “Who ya gonna call?”

Richard Doust
Aurora