DOCTORS will today warn that patients will be slapped with $8 billion in healthcare costs in just four years because of controversial Abbott Government Budget changes.
The Australian Medical Association will tell politicians at a public hearing in Canberra that doctors will not be able to absorb costs, which could become a financial disaster for families, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
The lobbying from the powerful doctors’ union will make it even harder for the Government to get its reforms through Parliament. The ALP, Greens, the Palmer United Party and crossbench senators have said they would not support the health overhaul.
AMA president Associate Professor Brian Owler, who will give evidence to a Senate inquiry into the out-of-pocket costs in Australian health care, will reveal the financial burden that will face doctors and patients.
In a submission obtained by The Courier-Mail, the AMA has argued that the $5 cut to rebates for private patients, the $7 co-payment for bulk-billed patients plus changes to the Medicare Safety Net and the PBS will cost about $8.4 billion in the next four years.
“(The AMA) does not support the Government’s model of co-payments as proposed in the Budget,” it says.
“It is poorly designed and is bad health policy because of potential perverse outcomes which create even greater demand for more expensive health services.
“The AMA contends that these Budget measures are driven by ideology.”
It also warned that some doctors who bulk-billed in low-socio-economic areas may be able to pick up the $7 co-payment for their patients and others would not.
“(It is) an amount that cannot realistically be absorbed by medical practices. From the consumer perspective, the … cuts will manifest as an increase in doctors’ fees.”
It warned some patients would delay or not seek medical attention.
Source: Courier Mail