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Parliament to probe Medicare impact on rural communities
A committee will investigate the impact of recent reforms, including the 1 November changes, on primary care access and practice sustainability.
‘It’s totally unacceptable for rural communities to be further impacted so we look forward to seeing what this inquiry reveals,’ says the RACGP President.
The RACGP has welcomed a Parliamentary investigation into the impact of recent Medicare reforms on rural GPs and their communities, with access, funding and practice viability being under the microscope.
The Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs will undertake a wide-reaching probe with terms of reference including the:
- impact of the 1 November 2025 Medicare changes on access to primary care, including telehealth
- financial sustainability of independently owned rural general practices under current Medicare funding and incentives
- extent to which current Medicare settings contribute to avoidable emergency presentations and preventable hospital admission
- adequacy of Medicare support for mixed-team models of care required in rural, regional and remote communities
- impacts of current Medicare rules and incentive arrangements on large corporate providers compared with small, community embedded rural clinics
- reforms needed to ensure Medicare is fair, workable and sustainably funded for rural, regional and remote Australians.
RACGP Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements said the inquiry is a ‘great opportunity to explore what we’ve always felt’, which is that rural and remote communities ‘need a different approach to health funding’.
‘Once you leave the city areas, health funding systems need to be adapted or moulded,’ he told
newsGP.
‘Silos of health and silos of funding are okay if you’re in a CBD, where you can go in between each silo within a short drive, walk or bus trip, but silos of funding in healthcare don’t really work in rural and remote areas, and it looks like this review is trying to look into this.
‘In all the reviews that occurred in the Government’s first term, many of them talked about the funding models and block payments, and whether we should have 60/40 splits in terms of fee for service and block funding. Many of the recommendations out of there also talked about the need for rural to have something different.
‘I see this inquiry as being a natural extension of that, and it’s a conversation that we really do want to have. If it leads to actual recommendations and changes, then that’s great, and it’s a great opportunity for us to contribute.’
Associate Professor Clements said the college will work on its submission and he looks forward to the outcome of the committee’s investigation.
Submissions can be made up until 27 March, with the committee expected to hand down its report on 30 June.
‘I’m a rural GP, but I’m also a rural practice owner, and I think what this inquiry is looking at is practice viability, which I’m thrilled to see,’ Associate Professor Clements said.
‘Time and time again I hear phrases like, “the Medicare system has failed”, or “the Medicare system has failed rural” – it’s not that the system has failed, it is just that the funding is not adequate.
‘We know the Government has been looking at models of funding for rural practices, including a mix of block funding with fee-for-service and this may or may not be informed by the committee outcomes.
‘But it’s certainly something that we should be considering and supporting, as long as the solutions are adequately funded and appropriate for implementing in rural areas.’
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright also welcomes the investigation, saying Government’s must be investing more in general practice.
‘We know that the viability of general practice has been stretched for years and no more so than in rural and regional Australia where our general practices are the lifeblood of the community and the only source of healthcare,’ he told
newsGP.
‘It’s totally unacceptable for rural communities to be further impacted so we look forward to seeing what this inquiry reveals.
‘We can’t afford to make any more general practices unviable with funding or policy changes, and that’s true across Australia.’
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