A south east New South Wales GP has slammed a Federal Government cut to the Medicare rebate for short consultations.
The rebate for appointments lasting less than 10 minutes will be cut by around $20 from Monday.
Seventeen Eurobodalla doctors met to discuss concerns about the move on Tuesday night.
David Rivett has been a GP in Batemans Bay for nearly 40 years and said the cut was made without proper public consultation.
“This is really going to destroy the universality of Medicare and create a two-tiered system such as we see with dental care in Australia now where the wealthy have access to the finest dental care possible and the poor get around with a mouthful of rotten teeth and suffer a great deal,” Dr Rivett said.
“It’s not what any fair-minded Australian would want to see.”
Dr Rivett said the effort doctors have made to help disadvantaged people in the south east would become unaffordable under the new arrangements.
“By dragging funding out of general practice, GPs won’t be able to carry the load and support those most needy as they do at the moment by bulk-billing those most in need,” he said.
The Australian Medical Association also raised concerns doctors would have to pass the cost onto patients.
But the member for Eden-Monaro, Peter Hendy, defended the cut.
Dr Hendy said the move was designed to make doctors spend more time with patients.
“The problem is that too many consultations are going on in six minutes,” he said.
“So this is a change to the Medicare arrangements that will encourage longer consultations for the rebate that you’re getting from the Federal Government, subsidised by the taxpayer.
“That actually is, I think, a reasonable proposition that’s being put.”