AMA analysis of Medicare indexation freeze

Years of inadequate indexation by successive governments has meant that the patient rebate provided by Medicare no longer bears any relationship to the actual cost of providing high quality services to patients. AMA analysis reveals that the freeze on Medicare rebates by previous governments resulted in $3.8 billion being stripped from the primary care system. The medical practice therefore has to either absorb these costs and risk becoming unviable, or pass more of the cost onto patients (with either higher out of pocket costs, reduced time spent with patients, or reduced bulk billing of patients). This inadequate indexation has effectively resulted in a cost shift from the government to healthcare providers and patients.