Alarm grows over out-of-pocket impact on health equity New research indicates healthcare is becoming harder to access due to increasing out-of-pocket costs – particularly for vulnerable patients.
Pushback against proposal to restrict MBS access to bulk-billing GPs There are concerns such a change would create a two-tier system and ‘completely undermine’ the universality of Medicare.
Health Minister responds to RACGP concerns over latest compliance campaign Mark Butler has sought to provide clarity over letters sent to nearly 600 GPs who were co-claiming MBS item 10997 with Chronic Disease Management items.
Pulse check: How GPs feel about MBS reform While there is universal agreement that Medicare needs to change, many remain wary about what this will look like in practice.
College responds to Medicare integrity report The RACGP President hopes the review will be a spur to simplify a ‘fiendishly complex’ system.
What does the Medicare integrity report mean for GPs? The 77-page independent review has been published. Here, newsGP sums up some of the key implications for general practice.
‘Immeasurable loss’: Confirmed closure of 60 practices in four years Underfunding and workforce shortages have seen scores of general practices close since the pandemic. Vulnerable patients are likely to suffer most.
GPs driven by ‘fear’ likely under-billed $350m in 2021–22 New analysis suggests GPs under-bill in more than 10% of consultations, while another report finds no evidence for $8 billion Medicare fraud figure.
Around $4b lost in Medicare freeze A new analysis lays bare the impact caused by the long-term devaluing of general practice, highlighting the urgent need for investment.
‘Community health is desperate for support’: GP’s plea to policymakers For more than two decades Dr Kate Walker has been treating society’s most vulnerable. She says the situation has never been more challenging.