HEALTH Minister Sussan Ley insists changes need to be made to Medicare and public hospital funding before the system reaches a crisis point.
SHE also says the government isn’t trying to pull the rug out from public hospitals, but is trying to achieve reform to make the system more efficient for the future.
Ms Ley told the Australian Medical Association’s national conference in Brisbane on Friday the government wanted to work with doctors but needed to look at the health system maturely and clean it up.
She defended the government’s decision to maintain an indexation freeze on the patient rebate Medicare pays doctors.
“I appreciate for doctors this is restraining them and it’s a restriction on their remuneration,” she told reporters.
But because of its “dire fiscal position”, the government had been unable to undo a pause.