Financing
Doctors pay annual membership fees to the CMPA. Provincial governments reimburse a portion of those fees as part of negotiated contracts with provincial medical associations, in lieu of other forms of compensation provided to Canadian physicians.
Membership fees, together with investment income, have enabled the CMPA to acquire a nearly $3 billion reserve fund used to provide doctors with legal defence for cases in which the CMPA deems are defensible. CMPA funds are also used to provide compensation, in the form of awards and settlements, to patients and their families found to have been harmed by negligent clinical care. In 2009, CMPA paid out $163 million in awards and settlements.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Medical Protective Association