BC

The B.C. government's decision to outsource administration of the Medical Services Plan and PharmaCare to a U.S.-based company has failed to bring the expected benefits, the auditor general says.

John Doyle said in a report issued Thursday that the provincial government has not held Maximus BC Health fully accountable since the 10-year contract was signed in 2004, the first time in Canada that a significant portion of health administration services was transferred to the private sector.

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John Doyle.

At the time, the government came under fire for handing control over sensitive information to the subsidiary of an American firm as part of a $324-million deal.

While new security practices have been implemented since then, Doyle said key monitoring tools are still not in place to identify security breaches and there's a risk they're happening without the Health Ministry knowing about them.

The contract specifies that data storage and access by the company should not occur outside Canada.

"Although the ministry and the service provider have put several controls in place, the ministry does not know if the service provider is fully complying with this contract term," Doyle said.

Maximus operates Health Insurance BC, which takes calls about PharmaCare, related to the cost of eligible prescription drugs and medical supplies, and enrolment, billing and other concerns regarding the Medical Services Plan.