Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten addressed the National Press Club on February 1 and January 31 respectively.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
In twin speeches to the National Press Club, Labor leader Bill Shorten said bulk-billing rates are falling, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said bulk-billing is at record levels. Who was right?
Was Labor’s Catherine King right about the rising cost of GP visits?
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Shadow minister for health and medicare Catherine King said under this government, average out-of-pocket costs for GP visits are up by almost 20%. Is that true?
Australians contribute almost a fifth of all health care spending through fees.
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Health policy was an important factor in the election outcome, but one of the most important issues in the health sector – the impact of out-of-pocket costs – was mostly ignored.
The amount doctors are paid for each consultation has traditionally increased year to year to account for the increased cost of care.
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By 2020, the average GP will have lost A$109,000 in income due to the rebate freeze. To make up for this lost income, GPs will need to charge an A$11.40 co-payment per consultation.
Although the Coalition is largely associated with this issue, Labor first introduced the Medicare rebate freeze in 2013 as a ‘temporary’ measure.
AAP/Joel Carrett
Labor will lift the rebate freeze from 2017, while under the Coalition, GPs will be paid the same amount for delivering health services in 2020 as they were in 2014. So what does this mean for patients?
Other countries have introduced ‘co-payments’ and the results aren’t great.
A snapshot of 2015: health reviews, Health Check series, thalidomide series, Medicare versus private health insurance.
AAP; Shutterstock; Julian Smith/; Dave Hunt/AAP
This was the year of the health review – mental health care, Medicare, private health insurance, the pharmacy industry … and the list goes on. But how much movement was there on policy?
A significant proportion of the growth in Medicare costs has been driven by government policies such as items for new services and larger rebates.
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The Coalition tried to justify its failed GP co-payment as an attempt to rein in consumers, who were driving the increase in Medicare costs. Turns out government policy was mostly to blame.
New modelling shows the Medicare rebate freeze will leave GPs A$8.43 worse off per consultation.
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With GPs facing greater economic pressure and the health minister considering legislative change to make it easier for GP to charge them, GP co-payments, like Lazarus, may rise again from the dead.
Very high GP attenders cost Medicare an average of A$3,202 in 2012-13, compared to an Australian average of A$690.
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As well as being responsible for a large share of total costs, people who visit the GP more often are more likely to live in the most disadvantaged areas, and to report being in poor health.
Health minister Sussan Ley announcing the government would maintain the Medicare rebate freeze but ditch the co-payment.
LUKAS COCH/AAP
Doctors groups have warned the Coalition government’s plan to maintain the Medicare rebate freeze will means patients will have to pay more for medical services.
The trouble is that when Prime Minister Tony Abbott periodically seeks absolution he doesn’t necessarily improve.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Reema Rattan, The Conversation; Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation e Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
Finally abandoned on March 3, 2015, the GP co-payment has been something of an albatross around the Coalition government’s neck. Here are some highlights from the 14-month old policy’s short life.
Discussions about Medicare’s sustainability under the Abbott government have only concerned how much we spend on the health sector.
AAP/Joel Carrett
Jane Hall, University of Technology Sydney e Kees Van Gool, University of Technology Sydney
The Abbott government “reset” yesterday provides a valuable opportunity to reconsider health policies based on the idea that Australia’s health system is unsustainable. But first it will need to embrace…
The Coalition government is on the wrong track of reform for delivering better health.
Alan English/Flickr
The Coalition government has been claiming that Australia’s public health system is unsustainable since the 2014 budget. But its plans for the health system actually reflect the underlying belief that…
Non-concession patients may end up paying a A$30 to A$40 co-payment, not a A$5 one.
Pete/Shutterstock
The Christmas-New Year silly season gave Australia three health policies. At the start of December, the policy from the 2014 budget was still on life support. But in mid-December, then-health minister…
Medicare reform must focus on increasing value, not just cutting costs.
World Bank Photo Collection/Flickr
The primary care reform debate of the last 15 months got off on the wrong foot. It was framed in terms of cutting government spending, with an overlay that consumers needed to bear the brunt of system…
The AMA described the proposed reimbursement changes for level B consultations as “an assault on general practice”.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has emerged from the recent brouhaha over the Abbott government’s proposed Medicare reforms as both a winner in the protection of doctors’ incomes and an apparent…
A blueprint for Medicare reform must include cost control, but also support quality and equity.
Dave Hunt/AAP
The Abbott government is struggling with its Medicare co-payment reform, scrapping the latest version for a period of consultation, starting this week. The government claims it wants to make Medicare sustainable…
The Coalition government’s proposed changes to Medicare have never managed to garner public favour.
AAP/Peter Boyle
The government has backed down from its plan to cut Medicare rebates to doctors, which was to start on Monday, January 19, after several days of public pressure. For those not au fait with the world of…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne