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Saving Medicare Editorial, the Green Left Weekly The federal Coalition government's $1 billion plan to “save” Medicare has been widely exposed as a wolf in sheep's clothing — a set of changes that would radically change Medicare from providing universal health care to little more than a safety net for the poor. This was further confirmed by the October 30 release of a report by the Senate inquiry into the government's Medicare proposals. A study prepared by the Australian Institute of Primary Care for the Senate inquiry assessed that, if the government's proposals were implemented, bulk-billing levels would fall to approximately 50% of all GP services and that out-of-pocket costs would rise by 56%. On the defensive after the negative public response to the package, Prime Minister John Howard and health minister Tony Abbott have begun to talk about an overhaul, and they're looking to what deals they can do with the Democrats and the independents in the Senate. In a survey by Newspoll released on October 22, respondents ranked health and Medicare as the most important issue influencing their vote in a federal election, with almost two-thirds backing Labor as best able to handle the issue. Despite having the best opening for a substantial rise in support in many years, Labor has been singularly disappointing in the alternatives it is putting forward. Rather than an alternative policy, the ALP has offered only window dressing. On October 28, the ALP released what it called the “second instalment
of Labor's plan to save Medicare”. Its centrepiece is the creation of up
to 100 “Medicare teams”, each made up of two GPs and a nurse, to
provide free medical care in what the ALP calls “health hot spots”.
These are those areas of While the proposal for salaried staff, rather than the current fee-for-service arrangement which most doctors are locked into, is a positive initiative, the proposal sounds a lot like plugging the holes in the dam that's about to burst. Labor is kidding itself if it thinks that its proposal for Medicare teams, coupled with its earlier policy proposal to increase the bulk-billing rebate by up to 15%, will save Medicare. In fact, there is a danger that Labor's plan would act as an incentive to GPs to stop bulk-billing, if they assume that the free clinics will address the problems of disadvantaged patients. The estimated cost of each Medicare team is around $600,000 per annum. Setting up free clinics for the disadvantaged on the cheap will only accelerate the process of a two-tier health system with high-quality health care for the rich and second-rate health care for the poor. Labor's fundamental weakness is its unpreparedness to call for a complete restructuring of health funding, and a reprioritisation of the public health system. On the one hand, Simon Crean and his shadow ministers talk about the strong public support for Medicare. On the other hand, they cringe whenever the Coalition accuses them of wanting to tamper with the private health insurance rebate — a $2.5 billion government subsidy to the profits of the health insurance companies. Shadow treasurer Mark Latham declared on September 30 that there was no question of Labor keeping the rebate. Rather, — Labor would make it “more efficient”. But the only way of making the private health insurance rebate “more efficient” is by abolishing it and putting the money back into the public health system. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
