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Quebec is following the lead of other Canadian provinces in doing away with the annual head-to-toe physical for healthy adults as of June 1 — a move at least one doctor is questioning.

Historically, doctors in the public system were able to bill Quebec’s medicare board for what is known as a “major complete,” or annual checkup. As of Wednesday, however, the major complete will no longer exist, to be replaced by a periodic exam available only for so-called vulnerable patients, like people with such chronic illnesses as diabetes.

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Doctors will still have the option of examining healthy patients under a “follow-up visit,” but will be paid considerably less — a financial disincentive that was designed to gradually phase out the annual checkup for fit adults.

But Michael Kalin of Côte-St-Luc, who has practised medicine for 15 years, said he’s not sure abolishing the annual checkup for all healthy adults is a good idea, and he criticized the government and the Quebec Federation of General Practitioners for not informing the public of the change.