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DoHDA ‘not considering’ adding GP fees to Medical Costs website
It says legislation allowing the publishing of fees was set up to ‘allow flexibility’, but adding individual GP details is not the plan.
New laws are designed to ensure non-GP specialist fees are published on the Medical Costs Finder website by default.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DoHDA) has confirmed there are no immediate plans to include individual GP fees in any upgrades to the Medical Costs Finder website, despite references to general practice in new legislation.
The potential laws, which were introduced into Federal Parliament last month, are part of a Government drive to reduce non-GP specialist fees and make them more transparent, alongside private health insurance costs.
There are also several specific references to general practice within the legislation.
‘While the focus is on the charging practices of specialists, the Department may also publish information about GPs and other medical practitioners and their charging practices,’ an explanatory memo to the Bill states.
‘GPs would be particularly relevant to publish as they are often the first step of a patient journey for specialist treatment.’
However, a DoHDA spokesperson has now clarified this is ‘to allow flexibility in the future’ but that GPs would not be listed if the laws are passed.
‘The current focus is on the publication of non-GP specialist fees,’ they told newsGP.
‘There is no timeframe for any future consideration, as the Government is not considering including individual GP fees.
‘If this were to change, there would be extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the RACGP.’
The Medical Costs Finder website was first introduced in 2019, but with limited uptake.
Currently non-GP specialists participate voluntarily to have fees published on Medical Costs Finder.
According to the Government, only 1–2% of specialists and around 10% of private health insurers were participating at the end of last year.
The new laws are designed to ensure individual non-GP specialist fees are published by default using data collected for Medicare, hospitals, and private insurers.
If passed, the laws would also allow the publication of bulk-billing rates by individual medical practitioners.
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DoHDA Medical Costs Finder specialist fees
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