After whispers that they were going to do it, followed by assertions from his office that that simply wasn’t the case, followed by contradictions from members of his own cabinet that it really was going to happen, to stubborn insistence that every one else didn’t know what they were talking about, today Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced that the Federal Government‘s highly controversial plan to impose a $7 co-payment for visiting general practitioners.
Abbott announced there will be no change to bulk billing for children under 16, pensioners and veterans.
However, he also announced that the Medicare rebate paid to doctors will be reduced by $5 “for certain categories of patients.” This, he claims, will fix the “troublesome issue of six-minute medicine” and will encourage doctors to spend more time with their patients. This measure, by Abbott’s estimation, will produce somewhere in the vicinity of $3.5billion in savings.
It’s not all good news, however. That $5 rebate reduction – which is mandatory for non-concessional patients – can be recouped by Doctors who will have the option to charge a $5 co-payment.
Confused? So are we.
Reporters have grilled the Prime Minister on the effect this will have in providing Doctors to provide bulk billing services, given that they will now be receiving less money from Medicare for doing so.
The legislation, like a lot of measures proposed in the contentious Federal Budget, had met with severe opposition from the hostile senate, as well as leading health organisations who insisted that public health would suffer as a result, particularly among low income households.
Photo: Stefan Postles via Getty Images.
