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Rival
plans pitch for Medicare advantage The
ALP today is expected to pledge fresh measures to boost bulk-billing in
areas of need in an expansion of its already-announced Medicare plan. The
Opposition Leader, Simon Crean, will make a "major Medicare policy
announcement" at Gosford, the heart of an area hit by doctor
shortages and low rates of bulk-billing, the system where doctors charge
Medicare a discounted fee and patients do not have to pay. The
The
Australian Democrats are also scheduled to release their Medicare policy
today in a move that will indicate how far the Government will have to
move to secure Senate approval. The flurry of
announcements will culminate on Thursday when a majority of the Senate
committee on Medicare delivers what is likely to be a critical assessment
of the Government's scheme.
Mr
Abbott sought to blunt the attacks at the weekend, foreshadowing important
concessions to the Government's Fairer Medicare proposals. He
said the Government was looking at "refining" the requirement
that doctors bulk-bill all concession-card holders to qualify for
incentives under its scheme. The
Government was considering lifting incentive payments to doctors for
bulk-billing and a change of tack aimed at getting around the Senate's
likely rejection of a proposal that would enable doctors to charge
non-pensioners extra while still bulk-billing Medicare for the rebate. That
measure would require a change of the law, but Mr. Abbott is now raising
the prospect of an alternative, allowing patients to pay the total bill to
the doctor, who would have an online link with Medicare which would
automatically refund the rebate to the patient's bank account. Mr
Abbott said the alternative would introduce more convenience for patients
by removing the need to visit a Medicare office. The
Australian Medical Association welcomed Mr Abbott's concessions as a step
in the right direction but called for a further big increase in Medicare
payments to doctors. Its vice-president, Mukesh Haikerwal, said general
practitioners were pressing for an extra $700 million a year, double the
$346 million over four years the Government is offering in incentives. Dr
Haikerwal said that if the Government was serious in providing realistic
incentives for bulk-billing doctors to provide optimal service to
patients, the current payments needed to be "re-weighted" to
better reward doctors who spent a little longer with patients. At present,
the standard GP consultation rebate of $25 was for consultations of
between six and 19 minutes. Mr
Crean said Mr Abbott's move showed the Government was "on the back
foot . . . doing nothing to stop the decline in bulk-billing". Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
