THE Abbott government’s $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund “seems to be an accounting trick” to make the nation’s debt look more desirable, according to the Australian Medical Association.
Speaking at a Senate committee yesterday, AMA president Brian Owler said the announcement of the MRFF in last year’s budget had led to a “terrible episode”, pitting GPs and researchers against each other.
The MRFF is meant to be largely financed by the controversial GP co-payment but with the measure still unlegislated the fund’s future remains uncertain.
“We all want a Medical Research Future Fund,” Professor Owler said. “More money for research would be great but it shouldn’t come at the expense of sick people going to the doctor.
“I think one of the worst things we’ve had over the past eight months or so is this process of having researchers out there lobbying, ignoring the fact of where the money is actually coming from, and pitting researchers and GPs essentially against each other — I think (it) has been a terrible episode.”Professor Owler said cuts to the sector had been “clouded” by the idea that money was going into the MRFF, which was meant to be established on January 1.
“Where is the fund? The whole fund seems to be an accounting trick to make the overall debt look better,” he said.
Scientists have called on the government to better argue the fund’s benefits but the chairman of the MRFF action group Peter Scott said they had “certainly not lobbied against doctors”.
Mr Scott said there was “no trickery” involved in the fund, which was needed to make the healthcare system sustainable.
“It’s a visionary thing that will provide secure … and additional funding for a lot of scientists and doctors that are doing medical research that will actually improve healthcare,” he said.
“The government makes a good point that the current health system under Medicare is unsustainable or we’ll all be paying a lot more for it. How can you do it better and find savings? One of the ways is through health and medical research.”
Source: The Australian