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Business Cost Premium

Last updated on April 2, 2025

What is the Business Cost Premium?

Effective April 1, 2020, under the 2019 Physician Master Agreement (PMA), eligible physicians can claim a Business Cost Premium (BCP) on fees for eligible services to help cover the rising rent, lease, or ownership costs of a community-based office.

To be eligible for the BCP, a community-based office must register for a unique Facility Number and at least one physician must be attached to that Facility Number. As the Facility Number is a required field on claims submitted for the BCP, physicians must ensure that their Electronic Medical Record or billing software can submit claims with a Facility Number.

In accordance with the 2022 PMA, the scope of the BCP has expanded to include new eligible services and locations and new payment rules.

  • BCP-eligible claims submitted with a date of service before April 1, 2025 will be processed in accordance with BCP rules outlined in the 2019 PMA. 

  • Claims submitted with a date of service on or after April 1, 2025 will be processed in accordance with the 2022 PMA.

  • Geographic regions, percentage values and daily maximum amounts for BCP payments remain the same.

  • The daily maximum for BCP payments remains per physician, per day across all locations or facilities;

  • The BCP does not apply to claims already compensated by other payment models. 

Information provided below is updated for the 2022 PMA. For further details about the BCP, please visit the Doctors of BC website  or refer to the 2022 PMA .

Who is eligible for the BCP?

To be eligible for the BCP, a physician must:

  • Be responsible for some or all of the lease, rental or ownership costs of a community-based office; and
  • Be entitled to receive and retain payment for eligible fees directly from the Medical Services Plan (payments assigned to Health Authorities are not eligible for the premium).

​The BCP does not apply to claims compensated by other payment models, such as the Alternative Payments Program (APP), the Rural Retention Program (RRP) or the Longitudinal Family Payment (LFP) model. Eligible claims not covered under other payment models may be covered under the BCP.

Obtain a Facility Number for the BCP

The physician responsible for administration of an eligible facility (the “Facility Administrator”) must apply for a Facility Number by submitting the “Application for MSP Facility Number (New)” form and checking the box to request the BCP be applied to eligible fees paid to eligible physicians attached to that facility. Each office location must obtain a unique Facility Number.

If you work with other physicians or administrators in your facility, confirm if a Facility Number has been issued for your facility before submitting an application.

​Notes:

  • Ensure that only one application for a Facility Number is submitted for each facility
  • A Facility Number must be assigned before submitting a Practitioner Attachment form, as this information is required for the form

Cancel or Change Details for a Facility

If facility details change after the application for a Facility Number has been submitted, (e.g., location or postal code), the Facility Administrator must submit the “Application to Cancel or Change Details for Facilities with an MSP Facility Number” form.

Attach a physician to a facility for the BCP

Once a facility has obtained a Facility Number, eligible physicians must be attached to the facility to claim for the BCP.

Individual physicians (including, if applicable, the Facility Administrator) must complete the “Practitioner Attachment to MSP Facility Number” form for each facility for which they are eligible for the BCP.

How the BCP is calculated

Eligible physicians will receive BCP payments, for claims with a service date on or after April 1, 2025, based on the highest percentage and daily maximum among all eligible facilities they are affiliated with. This applies regardless of the location where the service is provided.

The following percentage values and daily maximum amounts of the BCP are based on the eligible fees and location of the eligible community-based office to which the physician is attached:

  • City of Vancouver: 5% up to a daily maximum of $60 per day per physician

  • Metro Vancouver (excluding the City of Vancouver) and Greater Victoria: 4% up to a maximum $48 per day per physician 

  • Other communities (outside Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria) not eligible for the Rural Retention Premiums: 3% up to a maximum $36 per day per physician

The BCP will be paid to the maximum on whichever eligible claims are received first, regardless of the facility or payee number. If the physician reaches their daily maximum, BCP will not be paid on subsequent claims for that date of service.

The MSP claims system will apply the percentage for the premium to BCP-eligible claims and calculate the daily maximum based on the facilities to which the physician is attached.

Eligible Locations and Services

The 2022 PMA as of April 1, 2023 expands eligible BCP services to include nearly all fee items, with some exclusions such as LFP fee items, form fees, and primary health fees.

Eligible healthcare settings are expanded to include all service locations, as long as:

  • The physician is attached to a valid Facility Number for the BCP; and

  • The facility at which the service is provided has a valid Facility Number for the date of service.

Submit Claims for the BCP

Eligible BCP claims must be submitted via Teleplan, with the following exception:

Medical Practitioners who submit claims for fewer than 2,400 services per year and earn less than $72,000 annually in fee-for-service payments, and who do not submit claims to MSP via Teleplan, can submit claims for the BCP using the updated MSP Pay Practitioner Claim form (HLTH 1915) or the MSP Pay Patient Claim form (HLTH 1916). 

The following criteria must be met for BCP to be paid:

  • The Facility Number on the claim is valid for the date of service. A valid MSP Facility Number is one assigned by MSP through Health Insurance BC. 

  • The physician is eligible, registered, and assigned to a BCP Facility Number as of the date of service.

When submitting a Facility Number with a claim:

  1. Use the valid MSP Facility Number of where the service took place

  2. If the fee item is a restricted diagnostic modality (diagnostic radiology, diagnostic ultrasound, EEG, etc) the valid Diagnostic Facility Number must be entered instead of the MSP office Facility Number

  3. If the service took place in a non-office setting with no valid MSP Facility Number, use your valid office-based MSP Facility Number

Cancel physician attachment to a Facility

If a physician no longer works at an office where they are attached to a BCP Facility Number, the physician or Facility Administrator must submit the “Application to Cancel or Change Details for Facilities with an MSP Facility Number” form.

Frequently Asked Questions