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Lifting of Medicare freeze only the start: RACGP
While important, thawing the freeze does little to repair damage caused by long-term devaluing of GP services, according to the RACGP President.
The RACGP President wants both major parties to regularly and appropriately index patient rebates to ensure they accurately reflect the cost of providing general practice services.
‘Both sides of politics have claimed the win on lifting the Medicare freeze if elected next month, but our patients need to see a real commitment to their care and general practice services,’ RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon said.
Dr Nespolon wants both major parties to regularly and appropriately index patient rebates in order to ensure they accurately reflect the cost of providing general practice services.
‘For years, over multiple governments by all sides of politics, patients have been disadvantaged by continued freezes and cuts to Medicare and general practice services,’ he said.
‘Something must be done to make sure patients don’t delay seeking care and that they are able to access the high-quality healthcare provided by general practice.
‘If the Medicare rebate rose with CPI [consumer price index] since 2005, patients would now be eligible for a rebate of $42 instead of the current $38 for a standard GP consultation.’
Both parties included pledges to lift the freeze in their recent budget announcements; however, Dr Nespolon believes more is needed ‘to ensure a patient can see their GP when they need to, not just when they can afford to’.
‘Patients want to see their GP, and spend longer with them. What we need is for that to be supported so we can provide comprehensive healthcare rather than be pushed to only deal with urgent and acute presentations,’ he said.
‘GPs are uniquely placed in Australia’s healthcare system to provide comprehensive healthcare, and at a fraction of the cost of hospital and tertiary care.’
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