AMA Informs Patients that Medicare Rebate is Inadequate - Poster delivered to 27 000 Doctors
The AMA has this week sent a poster to 27,000 doctors to help them explain to their patients why the Medicare rebate of $23.45 for a standard GP consultation is inadequate, and why many doctors must charge more than this amount if they are to remain in practice.
AMA President, Dr Kerryn Phelps, said today that a six-year joint AMA/Government study into the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) - the Relative Value Study (RVS) - indicated that the real value of a standard GP consultation is conservatively estimated at a base line of $45.21 as at December 2000.
Dr Phelps said the RVS calculation takes into account the costs associated with running a medical practice today - staff wages, furniture and equipment, rent, GST, and other business costs.
"It is wrong to suggest - as many people do - that any increase in the Medicare rebate goes straight into a doctor's wallet," Dr Phelps said.
"A medical practice is like any small business. There are business and administration costs that must be offset by income from patient fees.
"The fact of the matter is that $23.45 does not reflect the true cost - the true value - of the health service being provided by the doctor, nor does it come close to covering the practice costs of providing that service.
"With the Medicare rebate so low, it is little wonder that bulk billing is in decline and little wonder that many GPs are considering their futures - whether to join a corporate medical practice or whether to leave medicine altogether.
"If doctors can no longer afford to provide quality health care to their communities, the big losers are the patients,"
Dr Phelps said.
The AMA poster will help GPs explain to their patients why they are being charged more than the Medicare rebate, and will encourage patients to contact politicians to get action on updating the MBS to stop patient gaps getting bigger.
Doctors are being encouraged to provide advice and assistance to patients with genuine financial difficulties who may have problems paying the higher consultation fees.
The AMA 'patient fees' posters have this week been sent out to more than 27,000 AMA members. They will be sent to other doctors in coming weeks.
07 August 2001
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761