Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President - ABC Radio 'AM'
COMPERE: The AMA is accusing the big private health funds of putting cost before patient care by listing preferred doctors on their Internet sites. Patients can now browse the web sites of ten health funds to find a medical specialist who won't charge more than what their fund covers. Consumer groups and the Federal Government have welcomed the initiative for giving patients information to help them choose a doctor. In Canberra, Mark Willacy.
WILLACY: There's no doubt the biggest gripe about private health insurance is the so-called 'gap'. That's the difference between what your health fund is prepared to fork out and what the doctor or specialist is actually charging. Often, patients don't know how much the gap is until after their treatment. So, to solve this problem, ten health funds have launched a list of doctors who will not charge a fee above what the health funds offer patients. Russell Schneider is the Chief Executive of the Australian Health Insurance Association.
SCHNEIDER: "Well, this is widening the options for patients, and widening the information patients have, and I think it's in the patients' interests that they get as much information about what's going to happen in relation to their treatment including the cost of that treatment and, preferably, if they're insured, there shouldn't be a cost."
WILLACY: However, the Australian Medical Association fears the initiative is the beginning of something sinister in which health funds will dictate what care patients receive on the basis of cost, not quality. AMA President, Kerryn Phelps.
PHELPS: "There's absolutely nothing wrong with people knowing how much it's going to cost them to have any given operation. What I think the problem is, is that you cannot let your fingers do the walking when it comes to finding the right doctor to do your operation, and I think that this particular move by the health funds seeks to undermine traditional referral practices."
WILLACY: So, you fear that the health funds are putting cost before quality?
PHELPS: "There's no question that the health funds are putting costs first, because we have yet to see any transparency as to why these lists have been made up and how the lists have been compiled, other than because they're the doctors who will provide these services for the cheapest cost and not because of any other particular parameter."
SCHNEIDER: "Oh, I don't think the AMA's got any credibility. The AMA's a trade union, it's out to try and maximise the income for its members."
WILLACY: Russell Schneider's criticism is supported by the architect of the Government's private health policy, the Health Minister, Michael Wooldridge.
WILLACY: He says Internet lists offer consumers more choice and information.
WOOLDRIDGE: "I'm very excited. It's something the Government's been pushing the health funds to do for some time, and it's about time the public can get some information about price before they have an operation."
WILLACY: What do you say, though, about the AMA's criticism that this does undermine the traditional referral practices that GPs have been practicing for years?
WOOLDRIDGE: "Oh, it's absolute bunkum - nothing could be further from the truth. This is just the chance so those patients can know before an operation whether or not they're going to have a gap. Now, the public is fed up with getting bills they don't know about and, if the gap is a worry to them, they can now go to the Internet and find doctors who don't charge gaps."
COMPERE: Federal Health Minister, Michael Woodridge. That report from Mark Willacy, in Canberra.
Ends