FEDERAL Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry will raise community concerns over the proposed GP co-payment at a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott next week.
Ms Landry yesterday said she was hearing mixed opinions about some of the measures announced by Treasurer Joe Hockey in the latest budget, including the co-payment.
She said health leaders, people on low incomes and general practitioners in the electorate had all spoken to her about the pros and cons of the concept.
The proposed $7 co-payment is flagged to be introduced in July 2015. Ms Landry said some hospital medicos were concerned the proposed co-payment could make emergency rooms at hospitals busier.
“They say patients might go to the hospital rather than their GP,” she said.
“But they are less concerned about that, than the patient’s condition itself.
The hospital sector says if a person decides not to go to their GP earlier, their condition might become more acute by the time they present at a hospital.”
She said on the other hand, GPs were keen for something to be done to make the cost of Australia’s health system to taxpayers more sustainable.
However, she said some private GPs would like to see the changes to the co-payment introduced more slowly over time in stages.
“I will be taking this feedback back to Canberra,” she said.
But Ms Landry said whatever people’s opinions, most recognised something needed to be done to get the nation’s finances back on track.
Source: The Bulletin