February 19th, 2025
The Province is repealing two acts and amending two more to remove outdated and redundant functions that are, or will be, part of other pieces of legislation.
The acts to be repealed include the Anatomy Act and the Emergency Department Accountability Act. The Health Services and Insurance Act and the Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act will be amended.
“We have legislation that is outdated, redundant and no longer reflect the realities of our healthcare system,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. “We’re modernizing healthcare in Nova Scotia with innovative ways to access care, new infrastructure, technology and updated legislation.”
Repealing the Anatomy Act and amending the Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act will modernize the Province’s approach to the donation of bodies for medical education. The first Anatomy Act was developed in the late 1800s based on historical concerns about the illegal procurement of cadavers for medical training.
An amendment to the Health Services Insurance Act will clarify that healthcare professionals can bill private insurers and federal government programs, and allow them to bill more than the provincial tariff rate where permitted. Patients cannot be billed for an insured service.
Advances in public reporting of healthcare data will see the Emergency Department Accountability Act be repealed. The act requires the Minister of Health and Wellness to submit annually, a report on the status of emergency departments, based on the previous year, including closure hours and wait times.
Nova Scotians have access to this data in real time through the Nova Scotia Health service interruptions website, the Nova Scotia Health emergency care website, the Action for Health public reporting dashboard and the YourHealthNS app, which provides real-time information on emergency department closures and predicted wait times.
Additional Resources:
Bills tabled in the legislature are available at: https://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/bills-statutes/bills/assembly-65-session-1
Action for Health public reporting dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/nova.scotia.health/viz/ActionforHealth-PublicReporting/Overview
Nova Scotia Health service interruptions website: https://www.nshealth.ca/service-interruptions
Nova Scotia Health emergency care website: https://www.nshealth.ca/emergency-care#service-statuses
Nova Scotia Health emergency department wait times website: https://www.nshealth.ca/emergency-care/emergency-department-wait-times
Anatomy Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/anatomy.pdf
Emergency Department Accountability Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/emergency%20department%20accountability.pdf
Health Services Insurance Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/health%20services%20and%20insurance.pdf
Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/human%20organ%20and%20tissue%20donation.pdf
-via Government of Nova Scotia
