Australian doctors say they will not accept the Federal Government’s current co-payment plan, which would see them lose $5 for each patient visit.
Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler says the AMA provided the Government with an alternate co-payment plan three weeks ago but has not heard back.
“We were asked to come back with an alternative co-payment proposal which addressed the concerns that we had around vulnerable patients in our community,” Professor Owler said.
“We went to them with that plan about three weeks ago. We have not heard back from them about what they feel about that alternative model.”
The AMA, which will today make details of its proposal public, says it is concerned about vulnerable groups, including those in aged care, the chronically ill, unemployed, people with disabilities, those in remote areas and children.
“I think there’s a misconception that this was going to be a to-and-fro debate and that the AMA is in there wheeling and dealing and trading things,” Professor Owler said.
“We were never going to trade anything. We have a number of policy positions, and one of those is not removing money from primary care and general practice.
“I’ve said over and again that general practice is central to the sustainability of the health care system; it’s not the problem.”
Professor Owler says GPs found the $5 rebate cut for patient visits unacceptable.
“What we want to do is keep money in general practice. It’s not the time to take it out, whether it is to go to tertiary level research or not,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be funding tertiary level research at the expense of primary health.”
There has been widespread concern about the effect a GP co-payment would have on vulnerable sectors of the population, such as the elderly and chronically ill.
The Government is still negotiating with the crossbench members of the Senate to get key budget measures such as the co-payment passed.
Do you know more? Email investigations@abc.net.au