GP co-payment scrapped
GP co-payment scrapped
After many months of intense lobbying and public advocacy by the AMA - including direct negotiations with Health Minister Susan Ley - the Government on 3 March 2015 scrapped its flawed GP co-payment model and reversed the majority of planned MBS funding cuts for GP services. This follows the decision in January 2015 to dump the 10-minute time threshold for Level B MBS consultations - again following a concerted campaign by the AMA.
These changes are hard won, particularly given the Government’s deteriorating Budget bottom line. They are the result of effective unrelenting advocacy - both in public and in private.
Through its advocacy the AMA has help ensure:
- No cuts to patient rebates for GP consultations;
- Greater protection of the vulnerable – with no cuts to their rebate and existing bulk billing incentives retained for concessional card holders and children under 16s;
- No mandatory co-payment for GP consultations, and pathology and diagnostic imaging services; and
- No introduction of a 10 minute threshold on Level B consults – which would have reduced the rebate for services less than 10 minutes by $20.
The AMA is continuing to lobby the Government against the proposed freeze on MBS indexation to 2018.
