Australian public opinion overwhelmingly rejected the Abbott Government’s attempt to introduce a $7 GP co-payment. The Senate voted to block this proposal. The Government’s response to this forced reversal on GP co-payments was to issue a pre-Christmas change to the schedule Medicare payments. The schedule can be changed by Government fiat through regulation (although this must eventually be brought back to Parliament and must be ratified by the Senate). For instance, until now GPs received $37 reimbursement for a consultation up to 20 minutes. With the stroke of a pen—after Parliament had risen for the year and just before Christmas—Health Minister Dutton reduced the reimbursement for consultations lasting less than 10 minutes to just under $17. Thus, the doctors will be paid $20 less for 25 to 30 per cent of consultations, and will effectively be asked to charge patients the $20 difference. There is an online petition urging the Government to reverse its decision. I encourage you to sign it. Youll find the petition at: https://change.org/p/the-hon-sussan-ley-quit-targeting-general-practice-and-the-health-of-all-australians?recruiter=30162076&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 02:09:00 +0000
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