Answer:
In order to get the ball rolling, the BC Green Party has proposed an initial stage of a pilot project, which can help the Province establish a baseline for patient use and cost.
We propose a pilot project of 12 months authorizing psychologists to become eligible providers through a government funded billing system (such as MSP or an analogous Psychological Services Plan (PSP)). Patients would require a referral from their primary care physician to connect with a psychologist for six sessions per year. This structure would also allow psychologists to work alongside their patients’ primary care physicians and other medical specialty colleagues.
While the public mental healthcare pilot project would initially only provide coverage for psychologists, other mental healthcare professionals would be added at a later stage.