Labor is under increasing pressure to improve the Medicare system as out-of-pocket GP costs exceed the government rebate for the first time. The rate of bulk-billing has fallen to its lowest level in almost a decade. The issue is set to dominate the next National Cabinet meeting.
To prevent GPs from quitting bulk-billing, doctors want Medicare payments to double. Others argue that Australia has to reevaluate its approach to healthcare overall while the Australian Medical Association argues for subsidies to reflect rising costs of living.
The Australian Medical Association has cautioned that Medicare rebates to GPs need to be doubled in order to stop a trend of doctors quitting bulk billing and raising concerns about “catastrophically terrible” access in rural and remote areas. Doctors’ organisations assert that because government payments have not kept up with rising costs, an increasing number of general practitioners are unable to accept bulk billing.
Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews, the premiers of New South Wales and Victoria, have also urged the Albanese administration to significantly increase Medicare funding. This has been echoed by all state leaders.
Mark Butler, the federal health minister, said he appreciated the premiers’ involvement and that Labor’s first goal was “rebuilding” general practise. He acknowledged that gap fees were rising while bulk-billing rates were falling.
Mr Butler commented that seeing a doctor has never been harder or more expensive after nine years of cuts and neglect to Medicare, Butler told reporters during the week. By the end of the month, the government’s group on strengthening Medicare is supposed to report with recommendations that will help guide the May budget. According to Robson, Medicare rebates needed to rise significantly to incentivize doctors to bulk bill rather than charge consumers directly.
The government needs to be ready for even a three-figure percentage increase, according to the president of the AMA, Prof. Steve Robson, in a statement to Guardian Australia. Robson asserted that GPs’ sole reliance on Medicare payments was no longer financially viable. In small towns or rural areas, it is catastrophically horrible to get an appointment with a doctor, he declared.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ president, Dr. Nicole Higgins, asserted that the Coalition’s rebate freeze and the indexation of fees below inflation caused doctors to lose out on billions of dollars in recent years.
