ICBC will now focus on care not legal costs, but what does that mean? Starting April 1, 2019 ICBC is capping care costs for innocent car accident victims. Innocent motorists are therefore no longer able to claim the full cost for treatment after a car accident. As a result, necessary treatment costs above the treatment caps will not be covered by ICBC. ICBC’s focus on care?
Limits on Physiotherapy
$79 is the cap for Physiotherapy, one standard treatment. If your therapist bills you more, ICBC no longer has to pay. If charged an additional user fee, ICBC does not have to pay. ICBC no longer has to pay for your care when they represent the driver that injured you.
Limits on Massage Therapy
$80 is the cap for massage therapy, one standard treatment. A limit of 12 pre-authorized visits applies. Guilty drivers are entitled to the same treatment benefits as the victims they injure. No legal costs? That’s because the victims can’t sue the guilty driver for the cost of extra treatment.
Use pre-approved treatments within the first 12 weeks of the car accident. If ICBC was going to focus on care not legal costs the government would not have set these arbitrary limits.
Limits on Chiropractic Treatment
$53 is the cap for Chiropractic treatment, a standard treatment. A limit of 25 pre-authorized visits apply. $199 for initial visit & report is the limit for chiropractors .
ICBC no longer covers claimants under the chiropractic Flat Fee Program. A focus on cost not legal costs would have seen an expansion of the ability of chiropractors to direct treatment.
Limits on Kinesiology and Active Rehabilitation
$78 per visit is the cap for Kinesiology costs after a accident victims.
A limit if 12 pre-authorized visits apply. Some healthcare providers are able to bill ICBC directly.
Kinesiology initial reports will evaluate activity tolerance and functional mobility. If you give consent, assessment findings and goals for treatment are sent directly to ICBC.
Limits on other Recovery and Treatment Options
ICBC also caps the cost of Psychological treatment at $195; Registered Clinical Counsellor at $120 and Acupuncture at $88, if injured in a crash.
ICBC coverage is limited and capped for all motorist, even the innocent.
In claims before April 1, 2019 innocent victims recovered full reasonable treatment costs against the at fault driver. This is because our government before the no crash no cash policy of the early 1990’s believed in full compensation to injury victims. This is no more because of the focus on care not legal costs.
ICBC treatment limits and caps are only reviewed for increase every 5 years. Regular increases are fixed to the Consumer Price Index.
If you don’s agree with the ICBC limits on care, take the fight to your MLA. But for now, it’s the law. There are also exceptions not discussed that may be important to your case. Seek a legal consultation right after a car accident.
Dave Barrett the BC Premier that brought ICBC to life 1973 changed his mind 7 years later about the idea of a state run auto monopoly. He had this to say which some would apply to 2019:
I don’t have too much to say on ICBC, other than to say that those raving socialists over there have gone too far. They have expanded the program to a degree that is shocking even in the Soviet Union. They have embraced government-owned car insurance as if it were their own child, and as foster parents they have denied all maternal and paternal responsibility. As one who has suffered from vindictive slings and arrows of mad opposition who screamed doom and gloom about the government insurance business, let me say with some humility, welcome to the socialist club.( Hansard, 23 May 1980, 2567)