Overview
- The province announced and began phase one Monday, rolling the activity-based patient-focused funding into 12 public hospitals for hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and select shoulder procedures.
- The rollout is paired with a $809-million package that includes $525 million for the Acute Care Action Plan to expand surgical capacity and $284 million for operating-room upgrades and new equipment.
- Government-set price ranges and incentives tie funding to the number and complexity of procedures, with example prices ranging from about $880–$1,600 for cataracts to roughly $8,900–$33,440 for hip replacements and slightly higher rates for day surgeries.
- Officials call 2026-27 a 'learning year' and say Acute Care Alberta will monitor quality measures such as 30-day readmissions, infections, average stay and patient experience without fixed success benchmarks.
- Opposition politicians and some doctors warn the model could encourage hospitals to favour lower-complexity cases, risk 'cherry-picking' patients and open the door to broader use of chartered or private surgical facilities if safeguards and risk-adjusted pricing fail.