Budget leak a budget cop-out on health
If the Budget documents leaked yesterday are genuine, then the Government has failed miserably on Health, AMA President, Dr Kerryn Phelps, said today.
"At a time when the health system needs urgent attention, the Budget measures for health in the leaked documents are an insult to say the least," Dr Phelps said.
"In the AMA's budget submission, we made it clear that the Relative Value Study (RVS) needed to be implemented in full if Medicare was to be revived.
"These budget papers show no commitment to Medicare at all.
"The Government plans increased rebates for GP patients of only one-third of what they urgently need today, but they are providing this insufficient increase over four years. The needs and concerns of GPs and their patients have been ignored.
"And it is wrong for the media to portray this measure as an instant $11,000 a year pay rise for GPs. The increase is staggered over four years and is insufficient to cover increasing costs of running a GP practice like wages for staff and new equipment. It is business income, not salary. It is over four years, not this year. It is not good enough.
"As usual, the Health Minister is trying to fob off blame for his neglect of patients as a money grab by doctors. This ploy is becoming tiresome and is a sign of policy laziness.
"By applying cuts to rebates for specialist services, the Government would increase the gap that would need to be covered by patients in need of certain specialist procedures. This is a slug on people seeking specialist medical care.
"It is clear that the Health Minister, Dr Wooldridge, does not understand the RVS, otherwise he would not have taken these measures to ERC. Now we know why the Minister has been avoiding the AMA. He was too embarrassed to talk about these paltry Budget measures.
"As well as ditching the RVS and turning his back on Medicare, Dr Wooldridge has taken money out of the pockets of diabetes sufferers. If he were genuinely supportive of the good work of Diabetes Australia, he would have found a better way to fund their grants.
"And in another piece of policy genius, the Minister is going to make it more expensive for 65,000 high-cholesterol sufferers to treat their condition. I hope he can find the extra money to help these people when they start to experience heart problems.
"If these Budget documents are the real thing, it is a big cop-out on health.
"I have already called on the Prime Minister to allow the AMA to brief the ERC directly on the needs of the health
system. There is still time to change this policy before Budget day to do something positive for health."
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761