Health Consumer Bodies Lambast GP Co-payment Announcement

The Consumer Health Forum (CHF) and the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) say the Government's announcement on GP co-payment targets doctors.
“The Government’s action in slashing GPs’ payments by $5 is damning evidence that it is intent on turning the clock back on Medicare, away from principles of fairness and  universal access,” the CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Adam Stankevicius, says.
“The Government is turning GPs into its bagmen for the death of universal health care.
“The Government is abrogating its responsibility to set an overall policy to improve health and instead is just focusing on health financing.  This policy simply shifts the burden to doctors and ultimately patients.  It is claiming that financial cuts must be made to health while independent evidence indicates that the Australian health system overall performs well within international cost measures, apart from the increasingly heavy burden borne by individual consumers.
“And it will be patients who will suffer, as many doctors will have no option but to demand the $5 from patients.   It will be the chronically ill, families and the elderly not covered by concessions, who will be hit hardest.
"While pensioners and other concession patients, children and veterans may still be covered by bulk billing, the squeeze on doctors’ income could well see a dramatic downturn in their ability to continue bulk billing which currently benefits more than 80 per cent of cases.
“The Government has also locked in a longer term freeze that will boost out of pocket health costs for Australian patients, already among the highest in the world, by imposing a three and a half year freeze on all other Medicare benefits to GPs, specialists, allied health providers and optometrists.
“And its slashing of the time-based rebates to GPs must have the impact of driving GPs towards higher gap charges.    We agree with the Government, we need to move away from ‘Six-minute medicine’ but would welcome discussing this with the health professions and the Government,” Mr Stankevicius said.
“The assertion by the Government that its underhand ploy will help make Medicare sustainable is at odds with its plans to deploy savings from the sick to fund the Medical Research Future Fund --- a plan that defies common sense and has embarrassed medical scientists.
CEO of the PHAA, Michael Moore said “This $5 cut in the Medicare Rebate is in effect a pay cut for doctors.  Have government ministers taken a pay cut themselves?    It is a deliberately targeted pay cut to GPs. This is comparable to the minimal pay increase offered to the military.”
 
“Our GPs are being forced to do the dirty work of the government,” added Professor Yeatman, the President of the PHAA.  “Either they lose $3billion from their own pockets over the next three and a half years or drag it from the wallets of the bulk of their patients.  This is simply unacceptable.  The message has been clear.  The criticism widespread.  A universal health care system is one that provides appropriate access to the community without distinguishing on the grounds of ability to pay”.
Professor Yeatman also said the decision was not all bad news.  “At least there is protection for the most vulnerable including pensioners, Commonwealth concession card holders, all children under the age of 16 and veterans funded through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs”.
 
“It is encouraging to see the government's initiative in reducing ‘six minute medicine’, said Mr Moore.  “Adding an extra 4 minutes to the MBS Item for short consultations will encourage more considered and quality time to be shared between patient and doctor.  It encourages doctors to spend more time with patients needing a comprehensive service - an increasing issue when treating patients with complex and or chronic health conditions”.
“Actions on health should neither penalise our doctors nor undermine our world standard universal health care system”, concluded Professor Yeatman.