General

Independent study shows Medicare in danger

By ASU-C&SQ C&A Branch

An independent study has confirmed that it will be more expensive to see a doctor for millions of Australians if the Federal Government's proposed changes to Medicare go ahead.

The research found that the number of visits to a doctor which are bulk-billed (free of charge) would fall from 68 per cent to 50 per cent.

The amount patients had to pay would rise by 56 per cent.

The report was compiled by La Trobe University's Australian Institute for Primary Care for the Senate Committee inquiring into the Government's changes announced early this year.

Under those changes doctors would be given incentives to bulk bill pensioners and concession card holders. But in return for this doctors would be free to charge higher fees for the rest of their patients.

Outer suburbs and rural areas will be hit hard

The researchers found that the out of pocket fees for patients would fall slightly in major metropolitan areas but increase in the outer suburbs of cities and in the country.

They found that Labor's alternative plan would lift the rate of bulk-billing by GPs from 70 per cent to 77 per cent.

Download a copy of the La Trobe report.

View the original C&SQ C&A article.

This article was prepared with resources from the ALP.

Further information

"What we know is that the Department of Health and Ageing refused to do any economic modelling of the effects of the Howard Government's Medicare package. From today's report, we now know why they refused to do that modelling," said Julia Gillard - Shadow Minister for Health, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.

Read the full text of the Gillard and David Cox (Assistant Shadow Treasurer) doorstop interview.