PM willing to revisit GP payment: AMA

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Prime Minister Tony Abbott during Question Time at Parliament House.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott during Question Time at Parliament House on Wednesday. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

The Abbott government has signalled a willingness to redesign one of its most contentious budget measures, a proposed $7 fee for visits to the doctor.

Following a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Health Minister Peter Dutton on Wednesday morning, Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler said both men had conveyed they were open to “alternative models” to meet the government’s objective of patients contributing more to the cost of their healthcare.

“The Prime Minister and the minister made it fairly clear in the meeting that they were willing to look at alternative models and consider those on their merits… I think [we got] for the first time an indication at least that there’s a willingness to revisit the model that they’ve put forward in the budget,” Associate Professor Owler told reporters after the meeting.

Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler.

Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler. Photo: Andrew Meares

In what may represent an acceptance by the government of the political reality that the proposal has little chance of passing the Senate in its current form, Associate Professor Owler said Mr Abbott and Mr Dutton had expressed a “willingness to work with the AMA to come up with a solution that protects vulnerable people, that supports general practice and makes sure that we support things like preventive health care and chronic disease management”.