Medibank said while 13,000 members who used the service were pleased with it, “they didn’t feel it added additional value to their private health insurance”. Photo: Bloomberg
Medibank has abandoned a controversial trial which gave its members preferential access to GPs.
The nation’s largest private health insurer has announced the GP Access pilot, which guaranteed Medibank members same day GP appointments and after hours home visits with no out of pocket costs, would cease on July 31.
The trial had been the subject of fierce controversy since its launch in October 2013, with consumer advocates arguing the move eroded universal healthcare because people with private cover would get a better standard of care than those without insurance.
The trial was launched in six Brisbane clinics run by medical centre manager IPN, and in April last year was expanded to 26 medical practices run by the firm in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Cairns.
In a statement announcing the decision to dump the trial, Medibank’s executive general manager, provider networks and integrated care, Dr Andrew Wilson, said that after evaluating the trial, the company was “of the view that there are better ways we can support primary care”.
Dr Wilson said that while the 13,000 members who used the service were pleased with it, “they didn’t feel it added additional value to their private health insurance”.
He said that concerns raised by stakeholder groups had also influenced the decision.
“Disappointingly, it was clear from the feedback that this pilot was perceived as a first step towards the creation of a two-tier or exclusive health system. Medibank is a strong supporter of universal health care, and we would certainly hate people to think that we were trying to do anything like this,” Dr Wilson said.
“Primary care is really important and needs greater resourcing and support, and we want to assist in that.”
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners had warned the trial would encourage health fund members to change doctors, undermining continuity of care, and health economists predicted private insurers paying for GPs would cause fee inflation.
And while then health minister Peter Dutton said the arrangement, under which Medibank made payments to participating clinics for “administrative and management costs” was legal, the Australian Medical Association had said the deal breached the “spirit of the law” which prohibits private insurers paying for services covered by Medicare, such as GP visits.
In response to the trial, one of its strongest critics, Greens Senator and former GP Richard Di Natale, introduced legislation to ban private health insurers from making such arrangements to deliver preferential treatment.
Medibank will continue with separate trials to improve primary care for patients with chronic disease.