The plan to charge patients an extra $7 GP fee has been scrapped by the Federal Government.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced the contentious budget proposal will be dropped.
“There will be no change to bulk billing for children under 16, for pensioners, for veterans, for people in nursing homes and other aged care institutions,” Mr Abbott said.
However, the Government is cutting the Medicare rebate paid to doctors by $5 a visit in a bid to address the “troublesome issue of six-minute medicine” and encourage doctors to spend more time with patients.
The cut means doctors will decide whether to make up the shortfall by charging what the Government has called an “optional co-payment”.
“In the end, though, this is a question for the doctors, and what we’re saying to the doctors is for adults who aren’t on concession cards, we don’t think it’s unreasonable for you to charge a co-payment,” Mr Abbott said.
“And what we want to do by legislation is enable them to directly claim the rebate, provided the co-payment they charge for that particular class of patients is $5 or less.”
The $7 fee on visits to the doctor, pathology and diagnostic imaging services was announced in the budget and had been regarded as a “barnacle” stuck to the Government.
Mr Abbott told Coalition MPs late last month that he would be removing some “barnacles” from the Government before Christmas.
The patient contributions were touted at budget time as saving $3.5 billion over five years – savings that were to be invested into a Medicare Research Future Fund.
Mr Abbott said the new plan would result in the same amount of savings.
More to come.